People, places and stories: deciphering a collection of paintings from the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition

Abstract

A recent Art Gallery of New South Wales exhibition of Aboriginal earth pigment paintings highlighted 24 works that form the foundation of the gallery’s Indigenous art collection. Preparation for the exhibition provided an opportunity for conservators to trace the rich and layered history of the paintings, which are part of a greater body of work collected by ethnologist Charles Pearcy Mountford and a team of researchers during the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. The 16 paintings on paper and eight on bark were a gift from the Commonwealth Government in 1956 as part of a pledge to distribute a portion of the art collected on the expedition to the six state galleries. The recent 60th anniversary of the expedition inspired collaboration between academics, institutions and communities, re-evaluating the 1948 expedition from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal perspectives, culminating in an international symposium hosted by the National Museum in Canberra in November 2009. This paper examines the significance and condition of the 16 paintings on paper in relation to the expedition and the greater collection, providing preliminary analysis to identify aspects of the media and material. Conservation issues relevant to display and areas for ongoing investigation will also be addressed.