26 Oct 2017

Working together in the Kimberley



WA Museum Curators Michelle Broun and Stephen Kinnane and Community Engagement Officer Barbara Paulson attended last month’s Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC) Festival at the invitation of KALACC’s Board of Directors.

The trip followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the WA Museum and KALACC. The MOU outlines a commitment for the two organisations to work together to engage with Aboriginal peoples from the Kimberley and identify ways local stories could be shared in the New Museum.

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News
Erika Jellis

Shell-string twisted on flat surface by Dulcie Greeno, made of stripy buttons, marina and rice shells in Launceston 2016

16 Oct 2017

Traditional shell-stringing exhibition coming to Museum of the Great Southern

The Museum of the Great Southern is proud to host a national touring exhibition about shell-stringing; one of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community’s culturally significant and closely guarded traditions.

kanalaritja: An Unbroken String from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) features a variety of beautiful, delicate and rare shell necklaces, created by Tasmanian Aboriginal Ancestors in the 1800s, acclaimed makers of today, as well as a new wave of stringers.

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Sharna Craig

Karen Posing with locals’ on Zambia’s Barotse Plains, near the Angolan border.

20 Jun 2017

Museum Week 2017

Anthropology looks at the social practices that make humans human.

By analysing social interactions, traditions, cultural habits, and many other aspects of our everyday lives, anthropology increases our understanding of ourselves and each other.

As part of this year's international Museum Week celebrations, the WA Museum's Anthropology department will be exploring specific Museum Week themes.

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Article
Department of Anthropology

Yidumduma Bill Harney’s Bush School, 2007

26 May 2017

An ancient culture kept alive through art

A new exhibition that brings to life one man’s remarkable journey to share his people’s culture with the world is going on display at the Museum of the Great Southern next weekend.

Yidumduma Bill Harney: Bush Professor is a travelling exhibition from Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre and celebrates the life work of Yidumduma Bill Harney.

Museum of the Great Southern Regional Manager Rachael Wilsher-Saa said Yidumduma Bill Harney is a Wardaman Elder, whose country lies south-east of present-day Katherine in the Northern Territory.

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News
Sharna Craig

Sea of hands created for National Sorry Day

25 May 2017

National Sorry Day 2017

This year’s National Sorry Day on the 26th May 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the handing down of the Bringing Them Home Report, which was a report of the National Inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their families.

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Article
Western Australian Museum

Axe (kodj). Wood, stone, resin. King George Sound, Albany, c. 1830s Oc.4768

28 Mar 2017

Exceptional Yurlmun exhibition ends soon

An exhibition featuring historic objects made by Albany’s Menang people nearly 200 years ago will soon return to the British Museum after being on display temporarily at the Museum of the Great Southern.

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News
Sharna Craig

Yidumduma Bill Harney’s Bush School, 2007

8 Mar 2017

An ancient culture kept alive through art

A new exhibition that brings to life one man’s remarkable journey to share his people’s culture with the world is going on display at the Museum of Geraldton from this weekend.

Yidumduma Bill Harney: Bush Professor is a travelling exhibition from Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre and celebrates the life work of Yidumduma Bill Harney.

Museum of Geraldton Regional Manager Leigh O’Brien said Harney is a Wardaman Elder, whose country lies south-east of present-day Katherine in the Northern Territory.

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News
Sharna Craig

3 Oct 2016

WONDERFUL WAM THINGS

CASE 1 Beauty and cosmetics

About 5,500 years old, this fish-shaped palette was used as a base for grinding pigments for cosmetics, especially eye make-up. The shape resembles a Nile bulti fish (also called Nile tilapia), an ancient Egyptian symbol of rebirth and fertility. Popular make-up included kohl (galena, lead sulphide) for black and malachite for green. Buried with the dead, palettes, sometimes with chunks of mineral to grind, small containers of kohl and precious calcite containers with perfumed pastes, ensured the dead would be beautiful for eternity.

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Article
Western Australian Museum

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