Repatriation, Exchange, and Colonial Legacies in the Gulf of Papua : Moving Pictures

This book explores the people of the Kikori River Delta, in the Gulf of Papua, as established historical agents of intercultural exchange. One hundred years after they were made, Frank Hurley’s colonial-era photographic reproductions are returned to the descendants of the Kerewo and Urama peoples, whom he photographed. The book illuminates how the movement, use, and exchange of objects can produce distinctive and unrecognised forms of value. To understand this exchange, a nuanced history of the conditions of the exchange is necessary, which also allows a reconsideration of the colonial legacies that continue to affect the social and political worlds of people in the twenty-first century. Acknowledgements Contents About the Authors Abbreviations List of Figures 1 Introduction Moving Pictures Collecting Cultural Artefacts in the Gulf Region of Papua New Guinea Frank Hurley and the Papua Expeditions Colonial Discourse and Interdisciplinary Methodology Outline of the Book References 2 Exploration, Salvation, Protection, and Development: European Contact and Control in Papua New Guinea “First Contact”: Voyages of Exploration The London Missionary Society Colonial Administration: British Protectorate, British-Australian Colony, Australian Territory The Goaribari Expeditions 1901–1904 Administrative Control of Labour Agricultural Development: Plantations Systems of Surveillance: Law and Order, Health and Hygiene “Understanding the Native”: Salvation, Science, Governance References 3 Frank Hurley in the Gulf of Papua Hurley’s Papuan Expeditions 1920–1923 The Dispute Between Hurley and the Papuan Administration Reception and Distribution of Hurley’s Work References 4 The Lure of Barter: An Understanding of Papuan Peoples as Established Agents of Movement and Exchange The “Lure of Barter” The Myth of First Contact: Language and Migration The Myth of First Contact: Trade and Exchange Village and Community Wartime Post-World War Two References 5 Visual Repatriation or Exchange? Theory and Method Theory Method Gulf Field Trip, February 2012 Kerewo Leaders at the Australian Museum, Sydney, September 2012 Gulf Field Trip, December 2013 Gulf Field Trip, November 2016 Ambiguities and Limitations References 6 Contemporary Kerewo and Urama Responses to Frank Hurley’s Collection Identifying Ancestors Intergenerational Loss, Preservation, and Change Knowledge by Acquaintance; Knowledge by Description The Agency of Photographs The Relational Quality of a Museum Collection Thoughts on Material Repatriation “Pearls and Savages, Geez What a Title”: Attitudes Towards the Man, the Photographs, and the Film References 7 Decolonial Aspiration, Postcolonial Agency, and the Uses of Heritage References 8 Conclusion: Public Exchanges and the Decolonising Enfranchisement of Modern Citizens References Index