Help Australian Aborigines keep etchings
Following a long and sometimes bitter campaign by Aboriginal people and their supporters, curators, archaeologists and historians around the world have begun to accept that they can no longer justify holding on to their collections of human remains.
Aboriginal people believe that museums need to apply the same policy to objects, like bark etchings.
The Dja Dja Wurrung people from the west of the Australian state of Victoria have secured an emergency order preventing the return of three historic artefacts to Britain.
This temporary order by the State Government can be extended indefinitely, but the Dja Dja Wurrung are petitioning for a permanent order.
The artefacts, which include the earliest surviving Aboriginal bark
etchings, are on loan from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to Museum Victoria.
What’s the background?
Following a long and sometimes bitter campaign by Aboriginal people and their supporters, curators, archaeologists and historians around the world have begun to accept that they can no longer justify holding on to their collections of human remains.
Aboriginal people believe that museums need to apply the same policy to objects, like the bark etchings.
The UK Parliament is currently considering legislative change on the issue of human remains, but the British Museum is amongst others lobbying the British Government against any change.
The British Museum has led a campaign against the 'repatriation' of both objects and human remains to tribal peoples. They have said that the actions of the Dja Dja Wurrung threaten all overseas loans of objects, not just those from British Institutions.
What's happening now?
The Dja Dja Wurrung have formally requested that the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in Victoria, Gavin Jennings, act to prevent these objects being taken out of the country, using his delegated power under Australian Heritage Protection legislation.
Both Museum Victoria and the Dja Dja Wurrung have sought to defuse the situation. In particular, to avoid legal action, the Dja Dja Wurrung are willing to "loan back" the artefacts to the British Museum through an access agreement.
The president of the Board of Museum Victoria, Harold Mitchell, tried to meet with the British Museum Trustees when he was in London mid-August but could not get a meeting.
The loan agreement between the British Museum and Museum Victoria ends on 30 September, and there is concern that if a compromise is not found then an expensive court case will follow.
The Dja Dja Wurrung are focussed on securing a permanent order from the Victorian Minister.
They see the situation as a test of the Minister's office, as he is
responsible for the interests of Aboriginal people in Victoria.
What can you do?
The Dja Dja Wurrung are urgently requesting that supporters contact the Minister - but they also want British people to ask their Government to put pressure on the British Museum; they describe the Museum as 'out of step' with other international institutions in their attitude towards Aboriginal people.
To contact Minister Gavin Jennnings:
Phone: 0061 3 9616 8830
Fax: 0061 3 9616 8866
Mailing address:
Level 21,
555 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
email:
gavin.jennings@parliament.vic.gov.au
To contact the British Museum:
Phone: #44 20 7323 8000 (switchboard)
Mailing address:
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
email: information@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
To contact Tony Blair:
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp
To contact a British Member of Parliament:
http://www.faxyourmp.com/
_____________________
Letter sent to the Minister from ANTaR Victoria's chairperson, Peter Lewis.
The Hon. Gavin JENNINGS, MLC
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Level 21,
555 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Fax 9616 8866
3 August 2004
Dear The Hon. Gavin Jennings
TWO BARK ETCHINGS AND THE EMU FIGURE BELONGING TO THE DJA DJA WURRUNG
In your capacity as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Victoria, ANTaR
Victoria calls on you to assist the Dja Dja Wurrung community to fully enjoy their rightful ownership of the two bark etchings and the emu figure, currently on 'loan' to Museum Victoria from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ANTaR Victoria further calls on you to assist the Dja Dja Wurrung in the way that they have determined is in their best interests in relation to the items.
In particular, ANTaR Victoria requests that you:
use your power under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 to compulsorily acquire and/or enact a permanent declaration of preservation in relation to the items, in accordance with the conditions determined by the Dja Dja Wurrung in relation to the preservation of these items;
resource and support the Dja Dja Wurrung to ensure that they are central to the process by which this dispute with the British Museum is resolved;
advocate this position to all other parties involved.
Please inform us at the earliest opportunity of your action in relation to this matter, which is of great concern to our membership.
Yours sincerely
Peter Lewis
ANTaR Victoria
Source: ANTaR Victoria
______________
Further information:
For images of the bark etching
www.eniar.org/news/repat29.html
Museum Victoria Hidden Histories
Documenting oral histories of Indigenous communities to increase the wider community's understanding of these cultures.
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/hidden_histories/
Museums and Indigenous Cultures
April 30, 1997- Cultural Survival - The idea of gathering things, normally beautiful things, together and putting them on display is very old.
Babylonian kings had their private collections in the sixth century BC. The emperors of China and royal personages in other parts of the world certainly had collections of their own. The idea of a museum, however, comes to us from the Greek word museion, which did not originally refer to a collection.
www.eniar.org/news/museums.html
Aborigines grab art on loan from Britain
July 26, 2004 - The Times (UK) - The earliest surviving Aboriginal bark etchings have been seized in Australia along with a ceremonial headdress while on loan from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
The move has sent a tremor through the international museum community because it will have such an impact on future loans to exhibitions as collectors, both private and public, are likely to refuse to part with prized objects which could be seized under another country's laws.
www.eniar.org/news/art19.html
Museums unite against return of imperial 'loot'
8 December 2002 - The Sunday Times - Forty of the world's top museums have issued a landmark statement firmly opposing the repatriation of precious artefacts seized in colonial times.
www.eniar.org/news/brimus.html
:|: Paul Canning
eniar webmaster
www.eniar.org
~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note that the contents of this email do not necessarily reflect the policy of the European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights
This temporary order by the State Government can be extended indefinitely, but the Dja Dja Wurrung are petitioning for a permanent order.
The artefacts, which include the earliest surviving Aboriginal bark
etchings, are on loan from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to Museum Victoria.
What’s the background?
Following a long and sometimes bitter campaign by Aboriginal people and their supporters, curators, archaeologists and historians around the world have begun to accept that they can no longer justify holding on to their collections of human remains.
Aboriginal people believe that museums need to apply the same policy to objects, like the bark etchings.
The UK Parliament is currently considering legislative change on the issue of human remains, but the British Museum is amongst others lobbying the British Government against any change.
The British Museum has led a campaign against the 'repatriation' of both objects and human remains to tribal peoples. They have said that the actions of the Dja Dja Wurrung threaten all overseas loans of objects, not just those from British Institutions.
What's happening now?
The Dja Dja Wurrung have formally requested that the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in Victoria, Gavin Jennings, act to prevent these objects being taken out of the country, using his delegated power under Australian Heritage Protection legislation.
Both Museum Victoria and the Dja Dja Wurrung have sought to defuse the situation. In particular, to avoid legal action, the Dja Dja Wurrung are willing to "loan back" the artefacts to the British Museum through an access agreement.
The president of the Board of Museum Victoria, Harold Mitchell, tried to meet with the British Museum Trustees when he was in London mid-August but could not get a meeting.
The loan agreement between the British Museum and Museum Victoria ends on 30 September, and there is concern that if a compromise is not found then an expensive court case will follow.
The Dja Dja Wurrung are focussed on securing a permanent order from the Victorian Minister.
They see the situation as a test of the Minister's office, as he is
responsible for the interests of Aboriginal people in Victoria.
What can you do?
The Dja Dja Wurrung are urgently requesting that supporters contact the Minister - but they also want British people to ask their Government to put pressure on the British Museum; they describe the Museum as 'out of step' with other international institutions in their attitude towards Aboriginal people.
To contact Minister Gavin Jennnings:
Phone: 0061 3 9616 8830
Fax: 0061 3 9616 8866
Mailing address:
Level 21,
555 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
email:
gavin.jennings@parliament.vic.gov.au To contact the British Museum:
Phone: #44 20 7323 8000 (switchboard)
Mailing address:
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
email:
information@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk To contact Tony Blair:
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp To contact a British Member of Parliament:
http://www.faxyourmp.com/ _____________________
Letter sent to the Minister from ANTaR Victoria's chairperson, Peter Lewis.
The Hon. Gavin JENNINGS, MLC
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Level 21,
555 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Fax 9616 8866
3 August 2004
Dear The Hon. Gavin Jennings
TWO BARK ETCHINGS AND THE EMU FIGURE BELONGING TO THE DJA DJA WURRUNG
In your capacity as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Victoria, ANTaR
Victoria calls on you to assist the Dja Dja Wurrung community to fully enjoy their rightful ownership of the two bark etchings and the emu figure, currently on 'loan' to Museum Victoria from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ANTaR Victoria further calls on you to assist the Dja Dja Wurrung in the way that they have determined is in their best interests in relation to the items.
In particular, ANTaR Victoria requests that you:
use your power under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 to compulsorily acquire and/or enact a permanent declaration of preservation in relation to the items, in accordance with the conditions determined by the Dja Dja Wurrung in relation to the preservation of these items;
resource and support the Dja Dja Wurrung to ensure that they are central to the process by which this dispute with the British Museum is resolved;
advocate this position to all other parties involved.
Please inform us at the earliest opportunity of your action in relation to this matter, which is of great concern to our membership.
Yours sincerely
Peter Lewis
ANTaR Victoria
Source: ANTaR Victoria
______________
Further information:
For images of the bark etching
www.eniar.org/news/repat29.html
Museum Victoria Hidden Histories
Documenting oral histories of Indigenous communities to increase the wider community's understanding of these cultures.
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/hidden_histories/ Museums and Indigenous Cultures
April 30, 1997- Cultural Survival - The idea of gathering things, normally beautiful things, together and putting them on display is very old.
Babylonian kings had their private collections in the sixth century BC. The emperors of China and royal personages in other parts of the world certainly had collections of their own. The idea of a museum, however, comes to us from the Greek word museion, which did not originally refer to a collection.
www.eniar.org/news/museums.html
Aborigines grab art on loan from Britain
July 26, 2004 - The Times (UK) - The earliest surviving Aboriginal bark etchings have been seized in Australia along with a ceremonial headdress while on loan from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
The move has sent a tremor through the international museum community because it will have such an impact on future loans to exhibitions as collectors, both private and public, are likely to refuse to part with prized objects which could be seized under another country's laws.
www.eniar.org/news/art19.html
Museums unite against return of imperial 'loot'
8 December 2002 - The Sunday Times - Forty of the world's top museums have issued a landmark statement firmly opposing the repatriation of precious artefacts seized in colonial times.
www.eniar.org/news/brimus.html
:|: Paul Canning
eniar webmaster
www.eniar.org
~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note that the contents of this email do not necessarily reflect the policy of the European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights
KEINSPAM.gavin.jennings@parliament.vic.gov.au, information@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
http://www.eniar.org/news/repat29.html
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