Australian Indigenous Identity & Contemporary Life

Spaning the 1960s to the present this collection expresses contemporary Indigenous notions of perceiving, understanding, and knowing the world. It reflects the profound and dramatic changes in the Australian social, cultural, economic and political landscape in Indigenous affairs, and highlights Indigenous agency in affecting social change.

It encompasses a diverse array of material including artwork, prints and posters, ceramics and jewellery, children's toys, 'traditional' crafts, images, film oral histories, pamphlets, brochures and ephemera. The collection strengthens the voice of Indigenous people in expressing their identity and commentary on the past and the present, creating a social document.

Significance

The collection includes examples of the major political, cultural, artistic and social movements of the past six decades. Some of the key themes it encompasses are: the 1967 referendum, land rights, the continuance and revival of artefact-making practices in Victoria, Indigenous people moving back onto country in remote Australia from the 1960s, sport, the changing roles of women in Indigenous communities and Victorian Aboriginal children's art and play.