At the museum...

Stone tools,

Bellinger Valley Historical Society Museum

"At the museum, 

this means seeing the objects where they are, and simultaneously seeing them where they no longer are, that is to say, in the regions from which they were taken. It means enjoying the beauty and the knowledge that have been accumulated in our cities over centuries, but enjoying them with full awareness of the conditions in which these objects were collected, in asymmetrical economic, military and epistemological contexts. It means rendering visible, in order to master them better, the internal contradictions and the glaring tensions that have been at work in the very idea of museums since its origin. It means paying close attention, in this context, to the gazes and voices of the dispossessed."   Bénédicte Savoy

Bénédicte Savoy, Objects of Desire, Desire for Objects: Inaugural lecture delivered at the Collège de France on Thursday 30 March 2017

Bénédicte Savoy, Objects of Desire, Desire for Objects, Inaugural lecture, Open Edition

Sandy Beach, NSW artefacts display in the Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM)

A visit to the YAM (Yarrila Arts and Museum)

“Yaamanga Around here is a permanent exhibition exploring the history and identity of the Coffs Coast through themes of place, community and belonging, with Gumbaynggirr culture at its heart." (source)

The gallery, museum and library are housed in a new bright green building that even has bike racks in front. Culture is free there.

At the entry a film is shown: Daalga Nginundi Wajarr (Sing your Country) Gumbaynggirr artist Birrugan Dunn-Velasco uses modern instrumentation and sounds from Country.

The bulk of the museum is devoted to settler culture. Displays of deforestation tools, logging implements, barbed wire and cattle images. Frugal craftiness textiles.

One could say it is an obsession with stuff, with material culture and the hoarding of possessions. Collections of tools, shells, food implements from a nostalgic bygone era.

The only First Nations 'stuff' is showcased in a glass cabinet. Some dusty stone tools are lined up out of context (as seen in most Australian museums). To counter-pose a huge array of settler implements with Aboriginal stone tools could lead one to misleading conclusions.

Missing and therefore invisible in this display of material cultures is the greatest achievement of the Indigenous Peoples, that is having managed Country for 60.000 years without degrading it.

There are some beautiful paintings, glass and textile installations to see..

Suzanna Knight, Shearwater tapestry