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| home | news lAboriginal tribe seizes museum artifacts26 July 2004 - MELBOURNE, (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Australia's Dja Dja Wurrung tribe has seized 150-year-old aboriginal artifacts on loan to a Melbourne museum from Britain, it was reported Monday. The two bark etchings and a aboriginal ceremonial headdress were set to return to the British Museum and the Royal Botanical Gardens last week, but Gary Murray, of the Dja Dja, sought an emergency declaration under an aboriginal heritage protection law to keep the items in Australia, the BBC said. The order can be renewed indefinitely. The fragile bark etchings reportedly were made around 1845 by the Dja Dja Wurrung tribe in the Wimmera district of western Victoria. "It's not British culture we are talking about here, we are talking about our rights as a first nation. We believe strongly that (the artifacts) connect us to our country, our culture and ancestry. If you haven't got a past then you haven't got a future and it is our future at stake here," Murray said. A statement from the British museums said actions such as these brought by the Dja Dja Wurrung tribe endanger lending arrangements between museums worldwide, the BBC said. Source: United Press International
British museums up in arms after Aborigines grab loaned art July 26, 2004 - LONDON (AFP) - Two British museums warned Monday that international cooperation could be at risk after the earliest known Aboriginal bark etchings and a ceremonial headdress were seized while on a loan at an exhibition in Australia. The Dja Dja Wurrung, an Aboriginal tribe originally inhabiting the Bendigo region of central Victoria, have secured an emergency declaration order preventing the return of the artefacts to Britain. Made by Dja Dja Wurrung ancestors 150 years ago, the fire-blackened etchings and the headdress were loaned in March to Melbourne's Museum Victoria by the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, west London. "The emergency declaration puts at risk the very legal framework that allows such exhibitions to take place drawing on loans from Europe and America, " said a joint press statement from the two British museums. Thought to be the earliest in existence, the Aboriginal bark etchings depict images from the 1850s including kangaroos and hunting scenes. They were due to return to London this week from the "Etched on Bark" exhibition. The Times newspaper reported Monday that the seizure of the artefacts has sent a tremor through the international museum community because it will have such an impact on future loans to exhibitions. "I can understand the motivation of people in Australia in trying to seize the items, but it adds to the difficulty of international lending generally," Maurice Davies, deputy director of the Museums Association, which represents Britain's 1,500 public collections, told the newspaper. "The world gets more litigious and more and more unacceptable things happen, such as physical threats to items because of terrorism," he said. Under Australia's Aboriginal heritage laws, the emergency protection order can be extended indefinitely, but the 2,500-strong Dja Dja Wurrung are calling for a permanent order, the Times said. "This matter is being resolved by the Museum Victoria and the Australian state and federal authorities," said a statement from the two British museums. In Australia, Gary Murray, secretary to the Dja Dja Wurrung Native Title Group, which secured the order, was unrepentant. "They (the artefacts) belong to Australia," he told the Times. "If we had your crown jewels, you'd be knocking our doors down." "If the British museums want to invoke legal rights, we've got pro bono lawyers at a major law firm who are prepared to represent us," he said. "We are not fearful of the legal process. We're in for the long haul." Murray is calling on Australian Prime Minister John Howard to ask the British government to return the barks and the hundreds of Aboriginal remains held by the Natural History Museum. He is also due to write to Queen Elizabeth, who is head of state of both countries, and to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Source: Agence France Presse
Una tribu impide la devolución de dos grabados al Museo Británico Matthew Fearn Los aborígenes australianos pretenden que su patrimonio permanezca en su lugar de origen Grecia, Egipto y Etiopía batallan por la repatriación de piezas que están en el extranjero
El patrimonio cultural se encuentra habitualmente en dos lugares: su propio entorno y las colecciones de los museos. Estas últimas se han ido construyendo con bienes donados o adquiridos y que, en el caso de los grandes museos, son un reflejo de la historia de sus países. Estados Unidos, Reino Unido o Alemania ejercieron una posición de dominio internacional durante años, lo que les permitió comprar o hacerse por medios no legítimos con piezas de otras naciones. Pero estos países han comenzado a alzar sus voces para pedir la devolución de lo que un día formaba parte de sus ciudades y ahora luce en los museos de las grandes capitales. Un movimiento encabezado por Grecia, que lleva años tratando de que las esculturas del Partenón regresen desde el Museo Británico a su lugar de origen, y cuyo último capítulo se acaba de producir en Australia. Miembros de la tribu aborigen Dja Dja Wurrung han impedido la devolución de varios objetos de artesanía que pertenecen a las colecciones del Museo Británico y de los Jardines Botánicos de Kew y que habían sido prestados para una exposición en Melbourne. Arrogancia cultural Un portavoz tribal, Gary Murray, ha acusado a los museos de «arrogancia cultural». Entre las piezas figuran dos grabados sobre un soporte de corteza de madera, datados en 1845. Los aborígenes argumentan que estos bienes forman parte de su patrimonio y que están en su derecho a custodiarlos en su propio país. «Nos conectan con nuestra cultura y nuestros antepasados. Si no tenemos pasado, tampoco tendremos futuro», expuso Murray a la BBC. El representante aborigen estaba invocando el argumento por el que se exige la devolución del patrimonio a sus países: cada vez es mayor la conciencia de identidad basada en objetos culturales. Además, el patrimonio atrae turistas y se ha convertido en una importante fuente de ingresos. Estas dos dimensiones, la simbólica y la económica, son las que ha invocado Grecia con la esperanza de reintegrar al Partenón sus esculturas a tiempo para los Juegos Olímpicos. Se han creado comisiones, en las que también participan intelectuales ingleses, para presionar en favor de la devolución, pero ha sido en vano. El Museo Británico se defiende con el argumento de que en Londres los frisos son visitados por cinco millones de personas al año, que es allí donde mejor se conservan y que su adquisición fue legal. Más casos denegados No son casos aislados. Egipto ha pedido la cesión de la piedra Rosetta -también en Londres- para una exposición pero le fue denegada y tampoco ha logrado la devolución del busto de Nefertiti que se custodia en Berlín. Nigeria pretende recuperar 700 bronces de Benín del Museo Británico. Al menos Etiopía ha obtenido de Italia la propiedad de un obelisco que se llevó Mussolini. Por su parte, la Unesco recomienda la devolución del patrimonio cultural, pero no contempla el que fue trasladado antes de 1970. Source: La Voz De Galicia
Museum collections LETTERS July 29, 2004 Sir, The reclaiming of the Dja Dja Wurrung bark etchings by Aborigines (report, July 26) is an expression of the strong Much progress has been made by museums in Britain to recognise the importance of valuing this, but the point is often lost Yours faithfully, JACK LOHMAN, Source: The Times (UK)
Aboriginal tribe seeks return of artefacts 26th July 2004 - Historic Aboriginal artefacts loaned by two world-famous British institutions are now in storage in Australia after a bid by a native tribe to keep them. The Dja Dja Wurrung people have embarked on a legal battle to ensure some of the earliest surviving bark etchings made by their ancestors are not returned to the British Museum or Kew Gardens. They accuse the organisations of "colonial" attitudes, and say the pieces are part of their cultural heritage and should stay where they came from. The works - two bark etchings from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, and a ceremonial emu figure from the British Museum - were loaned to the Museum Victoria for its 150th anniversary exhibition, Etched On Bark 1854. The pieces are now being held in secure storage in Melbourne while the wrangle is sorted out. Gary Murray, secretary of the Dja Dja Wurrung Native Title Group, said the artefacts had been insured for about £900,000 - just under two million Australian dollars - "but dollars don't interest us. Our value is in our spiritual, emotional value. "It physically connects us - it could have been my great-grandfather who did the work. "We have a personal interest as well as an emotional and cultural one and we are concerned that the British haven't seemed to have changed their attitude in 200 years since they colonised us. "We will explore all legal avenues. We are going to write to Her Majesty the Queen and the Prime Minister and even the Pope to make sure this debate is dragged out and there is proper dealing." Emergency declarations - which last for 30 days - were made on behalf of the Dja Dja Wurrung in June and subsequently renewed, and they now hope the state governor will make a permanent order. Mr Murray said the lack of direct negotiation by the British institutions with them showed "disrespect", and added: "We don't have the Crown Jewels, but by Christ if we did all hell would break loose. There would be a warship stationed off the port of Melbourne. "They came and murdered us and dispossessed us. This is their English inheritance coming back to haunt them. "We are in for the long haul. If the world wants to see them they should come here where they came from." The Museum Victoria says it believes it is the first time such a bid has been launched. Chief executive officer Patrick Greene said the emergency declarations "came really out of the blue" because the legislation was aimed at protecting archaeological sites from development He added: "We have two parts to our priority. First of all, we have a contractual arrangement with the British Museum and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and we will stand by that and we will do everything to make sure that we do comply with that and return the items. "The second priority is to ensure that our relations with the aboriginal community - which are very good and which have been built up over many years - also remain good, so therefore that requires a lot of discussion and that is taking place." In a joint statement, the British Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens said they were committed to exercising stewardship of the collections for the benefit of a worldwide public and for future generations. It added: "The emergency declaration puts at risk the very legal framework that allows such exhibitions to take place drawing on loans from Europe and America. "It is in the interests of everyone that objects of cultural and artistic significance such as these continue to be able to move around the world and be seen by many different publics." Source: Daily Mail (UK) relevant links :
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its one year on from the Australian Governments controversial intervention into NT Indigenous communities
action Roll back, listen to Indigenous community voices speaking about the intervention |
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