German Ethnographic Expeditions to the Kimberley

Title: The German Ethnographic Expeditions to the Kimberley (1938/39, 1954/55): A collaborative assessment of research history and the interpretation of Aboriginal heritage
Presenter: Martin Porr, Associate Professor of Archaeology, University of Western Australia
Date: 15 May 2024
About
Historical ethnographic collections continue to be increasingly important for Indigenous communities today. However, the processes of repatriation and efforts to make materials in overseas institutions accessible to Traditional Owners can be a long and challenging process. These aspects are the focus of a current project that is jointly coordinated by researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Frobenius Institute (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) in collaboration with the Wilinggin, Dambimangari, and Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporations. This presentation will briefly overview some preliminary results from the initial collaborative assessment of the ethno­graphic materials from the German expeditions to the Northwest Kimberley (Western Australia) in 1938 and 1955. These expeditions were conducted by the Institut für Kulturmorphol­ogie (now Frobenius Institute, Frankfurt am Main) and the then Museum für Völkerkunde (Munich). The project draws on unpublished archival materials in Germany (photos, drawings, sketches, repro­ductions of rock art images, personal notebooks), published books and papers and the direct input from Traditional Owners of the relevant Australian Indigenous communities. As such, the project is a case study of critical research history and anthropo­logical knowledge production with similar significance to the participating Aboriginal partners and the archival institutions in Germany.
Project website: firstnationssu...
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