The Significance of Continuity and Change: Understanding and Preserving Aboriginal Catholic Church Art in Wadeye. Issue 1 (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Waters-Lynch, Isabelle; Sloggett, Robyn; Crocombe, Mark; Melpi, Leo
• Is Part Of: Bulletin. Volume 36:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 13
• Page End: 22
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: Cultural property -- Protection -- Periodicals; Art objects -- Conservation and restoration -- Periodicals; 363.69
• DOI: 10.1179/1034423315Z.0000000006
• Languages: German
• ISSNs: 1034-4233

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>The concept of national significance is used for a number of purposes including access to funding, across a range of sectors. It is embedded in a complicated set of assumptions that do not align easily with how cultural material held in remote Indigenous communities across Australia is most usefully assessed. In the Aboriginal community of Wadeye (Port Keats) in the Northern Territory the Kanamkek-Yile Ngala Museum supports the preservation of local cultural material. Of particular importance are paintings produced for the altar of the Port Keats Church more than 40 years ago by senior Aboriginal men, and which formed an important aesthetic in the Old Church. Currently under the care of the Kanamkek-Yile Ngala Museum, these paintings remain more or less intact, despite some loss and damage. Their maintenance and conservation, however, presents a range of complex issues, highlighting difficulties encountered in the preservation of cultural material in remote and regional Australia, and suggesting the need for new ways of assessing significance.</p> </abstract>