The British Museum has created a draft memorandum of understanding with the Australian Aboriginal Dja Dja Wurrung clan as part of discussions over historic objects associated with the clan that are in the museum’s collections, according to a report in The Guardian.
However, despite calls from indigenous leaders for the permanent return of the objects to the Dja Dja Wurrung, a spokeswoman for the museum said that conversations between Gaye Sculthorpe, the museum’s section head for Oceania, and the clan were about loans and reciprocal projects, not return. She stressed that there were discussions, “but nothing firm yet”.
Museums Journal understands that these discussions are centred around a loan to the Bendigo Art Gallery, which collaborated with the British Museum on a touring exhibition in 2014 that featured objects from the British Museum’s Greek and Roman collection.
The loan could feature two 19th century Aboriginal barks that were at the centre of a legal dispute in 2004 when, after the British Museum loaned them to the Melbourne Museum, indigenous groups fought to keep them in Australia. The barks were also featured in the British Museum’s exhibition Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation last year, reigniting calls for their return.
The British Museum’s spokeswoman said: “Any issue regarding the disposition of the collection is a matter for the trustees of the British Museum.
“As a general principle, the trustees of the British Museum will consider (subject to the usual considerations of condition and fitness to travel) any part of the collection to be loaned to other institutions.
“The Museum is committed to sharing its collection across the world and is the world’s leading lender of objects. The loan of 150 objects to the Encounters exhibition at the National Museum of Australia is a recent example of this.”
However, despite calls from indigenous leaders for the permanent return of the objects to the Dja Dja Wurrung, a spokeswoman for the museum said that conversations between Gaye Sculthorpe, the museum’s section head for Oceania, and the clan were about loans and reciprocal projects, not return. She stressed that there were discussions, “but nothing firm yet”.
Museums Journal understands that these discussions are centred around a loan to the Bendigo Art Gallery, which collaborated with the British Museum on a touring exhibition in 2014 that featured objects from the British Museum’s Greek and Roman collection.
The loan could feature two 19th century Aboriginal barks that were at the centre of a legal dispute in 2004 when, after the British Museum loaned them to the Melbourne Museum, indigenous groups fought to keep them in Australia. The barks were also featured in the British Museum’s exhibition Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation last year, reigniting calls for their return.
The British Museum’s spokeswoman said: “Any issue regarding the disposition of the collection is a matter for the trustees of the British Museum.
“As a general principle, the trustees of the British Museum will consider (subject to the usual considerations of condition and fitness to travel) any part of the collection to be loaned to other institutions.
“The Museum is committed to sharing its collection across the world and is the world’s leading lender of objects. The loan of 150 objects to the Encounters exhibition at the National Museum of Australia is a recent example of this.”
