Proposed legislation would identify and protect African American cemeteries. But it wouldn’t cover the remains of thousands of Black people in museum collections.
Media coverage of the recent Dr. Seuss controversy are rooted in both a lack of awareness of the challenges and realities of maintaining collections and a false understanding of history.
New research shows COVID-19 threw existing inequalities into sharp relief: well-funded institutions were able to move their projects online, while smaller galleries struggled.
Specimen preservation means researchers don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time they ask a new question, making it critical for the advancement of science. But many specimens are discarded or lost.
A spear-thrower, a shell, a bowl, a vase, a bucket. Five very different items tell us much about the history of collecting, the role of Indigenous experts and the shadow of colonial violence.
Paleontologists have discovered fossil remains belonging to an enormous ‘toothed’ bird that lived for a period of about 60 million years after dinosaurs.
Too often in conversations about cultural centres, the incredible resources already available are neglected.The Berndt Museum, in Perth, is a collection of national and international significance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed museums and cultural sites worldwide. Meanwhile, curators are already working hard to preserve the current moment so that future generations may understand it.
Tomanowos, aka the Willamette Meteorite, may be the world’s most interesting rock. Its story includes catastrophic ice age floods, theft of Native American cultural heritage and plenty of human folly.
Galleries and musuems are rapidly moving online in response to social distancing measures, but the digital divide means regional and remote organisations could be left behind.