There is nothing natural about ‘natural’ history. It is where nature becomes the object of study rather than something we might experience, live in or work with. When you consciously do the work of naming, explaining and studying nature, you become an exception to that nature—a naturalist. Indigenous Country, spaces filled with life, story, interconnections and histories, is fashioned as nature when encountered by non-Indigenous people. Once named ‘nature’, Indigenous Country becomes accessible to everyone at any time, explained only through the lens of the naturalist. This process of ‘nature-ising’ works alongside colonising, seeking to control Indigenous knowing and being. This chapter considers the interventions and creations of Indigenous curators, Elders, writers and artists that resist the colonial practice of isolating ‘nature’ from Country in museum contexts, especially natural history museums. These responses—creative installations, educational spaces—reconnect people and place through the interwoven worlds of Country. This re-centering of Country also re-centres the relationships between people, place and all that connects them. The chapter moves with the speculative fiction and poetry of Evelyn Araluen, Megan Cope’s installation art, and Burra (eel), the Australian Museum’s Country-driven learning space. It ultimately asks what a profound re-organisation of such museums and collections might produce.

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How Does It All Come Back Now? Re-organising Naturalised Histories

  • Katrina Schlunke

摘要

There is nothing natural about ‘natural’ history. It is where nature becomes the object of study rather than something we might experience, live in or work with. When you consciously do the work of naming, explaining and studying nature, you become an exception to that nature—a naturalist. Indigenous Country, spaces filled with life, story, interconnections and histories, is fashioned as nature when encountered by non-Indigenous people. Once named ‘nature’, Indigenous Country becomes accessible to everyone at any time, explained only through the lens of the naturalist. This process of ‘nature-ising’ works alongside colonising, seeking to control Indigenous knowing and being. This chapter considers the interventions and creations of Indigenous curators, Elders, writers and artists that resist the colonial practice of isolating ‘nature’ from Country in museum contexts, especially natural history museums. These responses—creative installations, educational spaces—reconnect people and place through the interwoven worlds of Country. This re-centering of Country also re-centres the relationships between people, place and all that connects them. The chapter moves with the speculative fiction and poetry of Evelyn Araluen, Megan Cope’s installation art, and Burra (eel), the Australian Museum’s Country-driven learning space. It ultimately asks what a profound re-organisation of such museums and collections might produce.