Audio on demand

Curator Doreen Mellor examines the life-changing consequences for Australian Indigenous peoples of Captain James Cook’s first Pacific journey, and subsequent European settlement, as the background to the story of the Stolen Generations.

Historian Paul Tapsell discusses how artefacts in Joseph Banks’ collection from Captain James Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific can be viewed as ‘taonga’, or Maori treasured possessions.

The historical significance of the Cook-Forster ethnographic collection of the University of Göttingen in Germany is examined by historian Paul Turnbull.

Historian Ian McShane analyses social history as museum theme and practice from 1981 to 2000.

Historian Angela Philp explores Aboriginal art and culture, and the tensions between aesthetics, history and politics that have been critical in the institutional histories of the National Museum of Australia and the National Gallery of Australia.

Sylvia Schaffarczyk reconstructs the history of the Official Papuan collection at the National Museum of Australia and examines Australian collecting in Papua during a key period in the development of anthropology and Australia’s colonial interests.

Curator David Kaus provides an overview of the Aboriginal material in the National Museum of Australia’s National Historical Collection.

Six expert speakers – each involved with shaping the National Historical Collection over time – reflect on their personal experiences with the National Museum of Australia in a discussion with curator Kirsten Wehner.

Libby Robin tells the story of the zoological specimens, collected by Sir Colin MacKenzie, that were among the first objects in the National Museum of Australia’s National Historical Collection.

The history of the Springfield collection, more than 2000 objects from a major rural property near Sydney, is outlined by registrar Carol Cooper. She explores the remarkable family who cared for it and the Museum’s work to make this collection available.