History by design in the Kimberley

Book chapter


Konishi, Shino and Paterson, Alistair. (2021). History by design in the Kimberley. In In Sculthorpe, Gaye, Nugent, Maria and Morphy, Howard (Ed.). Ancestors, artefacts, empire : Indigenous Australia in British and Irish museums pp. 121-130 The British Museum Press.
AuthorsKonishi, Shino and Paterson, Alistair
EditorsSculthorpe, Gaye, Nugent, Maria and Morphy, Howard
Abstract

[Extract]... Several such objects from northwest Australia held in museum collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland allow us to explore Aboriginal design and its meaning. Design is often considered in aesthetic and technological terms, but it also often carries symbolic meaning. Many objects collected in the colonial period and twentieth century can be seen to document historical moments, something also captured by 'contact' rock art, which depicts the changing world since colonisation begain in this region in the late nineteenth century, and the loss of Aboriginal people's unfettered access to Country. Museum collections also reflect differeing historical contexts. Collections were made by a range of colonial agents: settlers, police, exploratory and scientific expeditions, visitors, religious practitioners and entrepreneurs. Objects were purchased, stolen, gifted or found, while the collector is often named and given pre-eminence in collection records, such collections can also provide significant insights about the usually unnamed Aboriginal makers and historical agents, and reveal changing Aboriginal design sensibilities across time.

KeywordsAboriginal design; museums; Australia; Kimberley; Pilbara; Western Desert; artefacts
Page range121-130
Year2021
Book titleAncestors, artefacts, empire : Indigenous Australia in British and Irish museums
PublisherThe British Museum Press
Place of publicationLondon, United Kingdom
ISBN9780714124902
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
PrintOct 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited16 May 2022
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8xw7y/history-by-design-in-the-kimberley

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 50
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

The Pinjarra Massacre in the age of the statue wars
Curthoys, Ann and Konishi, Shino. (2022). The Pinjarra Massacre in the age of the statue wars. Journal of Genocide Research. 24(4), pp. 511-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2021.2023986
Searching in the shadows : Aboriginal women in early colonial New South Wales
McClaren, Annemarie and Konishi, Shino. (2021). Searching in the shadows : Aboriginal women in early colonial New South Wales. In In Bonnerjee, Samraghni (Ed.). Subaltern women's narratives : Strident voices, dissenting bodies pp. 71-87 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003121220-7
The “brilliant shells” of Shark Bay : The emotions of shell-collecting
Konishi, Shino. (2020). The “brilliant shells” of Shark Bay : The emotions of shell-collecting. Studies in Western Australian History. 35, pp. 21-36.
Feeling the past : Indigenous history and emotions
Konishi, Shino. (2020). Feeling the past : Indigenous history and emotions. Journal of Australian Studies. 44(2), pp. 135-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2020.1753224
J.C. Byrne, entrepreneurial imperialism and the question of indigenous rights
Konishi, Shino. (2020). J.C. Byrne, entrepreneurial imperialism and the question of indigenous rights. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 48(6), pp. 981-1010. https://doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2020.1765533
Perspectives on indigenous voices and historical archaeology
Paterson, Alistair and Konishi, Shino. (2019). Perspectives on indigenous voices and historical archaeology. In In Äikäs, Tiina and Salmi, Anna-Kaisa (Ed.). The sound of silence : Indigenous perspectives on the historical archaeology of colonialism pp. 201-220 Berghahn Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1850hr9.13
First Nations scholars, settler colonial studies, and indigenous history
Konishi, Shino. (2019). First Nations scholars, settler colonial studies, and indigenous history. Australian Historical Studies. 50(3), pp. 285-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2019.1620300
Indigenous politics after the end of empire
Konishi, Shino. (2018). Indigenous politics after the end of empire. In In Fullager, Kate and McDonnell, Michael A. (Ed.). Facing empire : Indigenous experiences in a revolutionary age pp. 331-337 Johns Hopkins University Press.
Making connections and attachments : Writing the lives of two nineteenth-century Aboriginal men
Konishi, Shino. (2016). Making connections and attachments : Writing the lives of two nineteenth-century Aboriginal men. Biography. 39(3), pp. 410-428. https://doi.org/10.1353/bio.2016.0050
Working for the railways : Torres Strait Islander labour and mobility in the 1960s
Konishi, Shino and Lui-Chivizhe, Leah. (2014). Working for the railways : Torres Strait Islander labour and mobility in the 1960s. Journal of Australian Studies. 38(4), pp. 445-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2014.952766