WEDNESDAY 21 AUGUST 2019
6PM–7.30PM
Awakening a forgotten collection from South America by reconnecting to its source community, the Yaghan.
In 1929 Australian Anthropologist, Baldwin Spencer and Ms. Jean Hamilton travelled to Tierra Del Fuego to study the Yaghan people, who they defined as a dying race. Two months later it was Spencer who was dead.
Lost and alone 11,000 km from home, Jean sailed treacherous seas to deliver his body for burial and present what would become a small collection at Melbourne Museum.
Discover the layered loss embedded in the expedition, the collection and historic museum practices and the knowledge exchange that comes from reconnecting with the living culture.
Join the museum team and (via video link) members of the Yaghan community on Navarino Island in Chile as they discuss the expedition and collection that connects the two and reveal plans to forge new connections.
Speakers:
Yaghan community
Alberto Serrano, Director Museo Antropológico Martín Gusinde on Navarino Island
Senior curator, Rebecca Carland
Artist/ curator of Ensayos, Camila Marambio
Independent writer/curator, John Kean