Abstract

Museums meet their charters in diverse ways in a multicultural society such as Australia. We view museums as places of learning that intend to engage and fascinate their audiences. Increasingly museums engage in processes of brokerage through which source communities become active participants in curation activities. These processes are not necessarily transparent. Focusing on the aspirations of the Lamalama people of Cape York Peninsula, Australia, we consider how museums can now contribute to the Aboriginal communities whose cultural heritage materials they hold. We draw on specific collections, particularly the photographic images in the Donald Thomson Collection, to describe how community wishes have been accommodated in a research project that uses multidisciplinary methods, including video-recording, to further develop curatorial processes that explore the potential of museums as venues for social change.