Synopsis

Collecting the West considers the full span of collecting activities undertaken in Western Australia over the four centuries since known European collecting began. What do these collections tell us about who we were, who we are and who we can be?   While collections are thought of as being held in museum, library and gallery stores – or perhaps on public display – they also originate from a place. Collections represent knowledge of and specific understandings of the world. They embody the knowledge held by those who made the objects they contain, those who collected them and those who used them. This is as true for collections of ethnographic and historical objects as it is for those of art, natural history and archival objects. Collections embody knowledge and ways of understanding the world from the moment they are made, giving us insight into past ways of knowing and understanding the world. Collecting the West: Revealing Western Australia through Its Collection asks how we deal with the histories of collecting in the present and explores how these histories can help inform both collecting and display practices into the future.  

About The Author

Alistair Paterson is Chair of Archaeology at the University of Western Australia, on the Oceans Institute Executive Research Team and a Research Associate, WA Museum. Andrea Witcomb is a Deakin Distinguished Professor at Deakin University in the fields of cultural heritage and museology. She is also the Associate Dean Research for the Faculty of Arts and Education. Gaye Sculthorpe is a Professor of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University. A Palawa woman from Tasmania, she was previously Curator of Oceania at The British Museum, London. Tiffany Shellam is a Professor of History at Deakin University for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Shellam’s book Meeting the Waylo: Aboriginal encounters in the Archipelago (2020, UWAP) was awarded the Prime Minister's prize for Australian History in 2020. Baige Zylstra is a researcher and curator with experience working across academic, gallery and museum institutions. She has worked at The University of Western Australia for the past two decades and is currently Assistant Curator of the Murdoch University Art Collection.

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