Donald Thomson's Material Culture Collection From Arnhem Land
Data

Donald Thomson's Material Culture Collection From Arnhem Land

The Australian National University
The Australian National University
ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2FANDS&rft_id=https://datacommons.anu.edu.au/DataCommons/item/anudc:3282&rft.title=Donald Thomson's Material Culture Collection From Arnhem Land&rft.identifier=https://datacommons.anu.edu.au/DataCommons/item/anudc:3282&rft.publisher=The Australian National University Data Commons&rft.description=Donald Thomson was an anthropologist, biologist and photographer who worked with Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land, the Western Desert and southeast Australia. This project examines and documents items of material culture he collected from Arnhem Land from 1935-1937 and 1942-1943. His collections include over 2,500 photographs and 5,000 objects. During this project, fieldwork was undertaken in many of the places Thomson visited including Maningrida, Ramingining, Elcho Island, Gapuwiyak and Yirrkala.Donald Thomson played a crucial role in solving the Caledon Bay crisis in Arnhem Land, in 1932-33. During his time in Arnhem Land he formed strong relationships with Yolngu people, which enabled him to collect rich, valuable data during his time in the area. He was also a talented photographer, who managed to capture and produce photographic material in places ill-equipped at the time for image-work. His material culture collection deserves attention for these reasons, as it grew out of and was informed by his close relationships with the people he worked with.&rft.creator=The Australian National University &rft.date=2013&rft.relation=0908290217&rft.relation=10.1111/j.1835-9310.2007.tb00083.x&rft.relation=9781845206185&rft.relation=10.1386/sac.1.2.127_1&rft.relation=978-1-4419-8221-6&rft.coverage=Arnhem Land, NT, Australia&rft_rights=The copyright for the material this collection is based upon is not held by The Australian National University as such to utilise the items in this collection permission must be sought from the original copyright holders. Please email the contact person to gain further information about obtaining permission to utilise parts of this collection.&rft_subject=Social and Cultural Anthropology&rft_subject=STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY&rft_subject=ANTHROPOLOGY&rft_subject=Museum Studies&rft_subject=HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY&rft_subject=CURATORIAL AND RELATED STUDIES&rft_subject=Material culture&rft_subject=Museum Collections&rft_subject=History of Collections&rft_subject=Anthropology&rft_subject=Australian Aborigines&rft.type=dataset&rft.language=English Access the data

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Contact Information

Postal Address:
Research School of Humanities and the Arts The Australian National University Acton 0200 Australia

louise.hamby@anu.edu.au

Full description

Donald Thomson was an anthropologist, biologist and photographer who worked with Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land, the Western Desert and southeast Australia. This project examines and documents items of material culture he collected from Arnhem Land from 1935-1937 and 1942-1943. His collections include over 2,500 photographs and 5,000 objects. During this project, fieldwork was undertaken in many of the places Thomson visited including Maningrida, Ramingining, Elcho Island, Gapuwiyak and Yirrkala.

Significance statement

Donald Thomson played a crucial role in solving the Caledon Bay crisis in Arnhem Land, in 1932-33. During his time in Arnhem Land he formed strong relationships with Yolngu people, which enabled him to collect rich, valuable data during his time in the area. He was also a talented photographer, who managed to capture and produce photographic material in places ill-equipped at the time for image-work. His material culture collection deserves attention for these reasons, as it grew out of and was informed by his close relationships with the people he worked with.

Data time period: 1935 to 1943

Click to explore relationships graph

Spatial Coverage And Location

text: Arnhem Land, NT, Australia