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AC Haddon collection
At the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Jenny Gall (Research Fellowships program at NFSA) and myself took the train across the English countryside to Cambridge University. Our destination was the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
We were visiting to discuss the collections of AC Haddon who headed an expedition from Cambridge to the Torres Straits in 1898, in particular the historically significant film footage which the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) holds in its Indigenous collections. This film only lasts 4 minutes but is the first moving image recorded in Australia, and the first so called ethnographic film in the world! We were privileged to view the actual masks worn in the film and the photographs taken during the filming.
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Catalogue records and photographs from the 1898 expedition to the Torres Straits
The curator of the collection, Dr Anita Herle, took time out to discuss with us the important work with communities of origin around this collection. She raised the possibilities of bringing together the many disparate parts of this amazing collection which is spread across several institutions around the world. Potential solutions include a co-nomination to the UNESCO Memory of the World register or an online reunification of the collection in a digital form. Exciting projects lie ahead.
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Curator Dr Anita Herle with objects from the AC Haddon Collection
More to explore
https://nginx-develop-nfsa2.govcms7.amazee.io/sites/default/files/article/hero_image01-2020/ethnographic-film-hero-image_pearls-and-savages.jpg
A History of Australian Ethnographic Film
Michael Leigh surveys the long history of ethnographic filmmaking in this country and the representation of Indigenous Australians on film.
https://nginx-develop-nfsa2.govcms7.amazee.io/sites/default/files/article/hero_image05-2022/wash-my-soul_archie-roach_by-martin-philbey.jpg
First Nations Sounds of Australia
This collection features sound recordings with cultural, historical and aesthetic significance that are by or about First Nations Australians.
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First Nations knowledge and 21st century technology: Preserving The Strehlow Collection
The NFSA has been working with Traditional Owners and the Strehlow Research Centre to preserve and digitise one of the most important collections relating to Indigenous ceremonial life in the world.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.