NEW! Most conference papers now available as audio on demand. Listen to Barks, Birds & Billabongs (updated 24 December 2009)

Six decades have passed since the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. So it is a fitting moment for celebration, re-evaluation and renewed collaboration between the individuals, institutions and countries touched by this formative research venture.

In 2009 the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia will host Barks, Birds & Billabongs: Exploring the legacy of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. This international symposium will investigate the Expedition's significant and often controversial legacy.

The symposium will be organised around three core themes: Histories, Legacies and Continuity & Change.

Particular emphasis will be placed on Indigenous perspectives. Representatives of Indigenous communities from Arnhem Land (including Yirrkala, Groote Eylandt, Gunbalanya and Milingimbi) will participate throughout the symposium. Indigenous participants will also be given opportunities to reconnect with collections held by the Museum and other cultural institutions in Canberra.

The two key American institutions involved in the original Expedition – the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution – will also be represented at this interdisciplinary event.

A number of special interest group workshops will be held on the final day of the symposium. These workshops will bring together experts from around Australia and the United States of America in fields such as bark painting research and conservation, film archiving, digital repatriation and the natural sciences.

> View the program overview

> View the speakers program

> Register now – places are limited

> Special interest groups

> Public events and booking details

Several free public events will also be held in conjunction with the symposium. Bookings for these events are essential.

Symposium launch and public lecture
Monday 16 November

Witness the launch of the symposium by the Governor-General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC. This free public event will also include an address by 2009 Australian of the Year Professor Mick Dodson AM and a lecture by ABC Radio National Science Show presenter Robyn Williams AM on environmental and scientific change since 1948.

Manikay performance and the 'American clever man'
Tuesday 17 November

Living oral histories about 'American clever man', scientist Dave Johnson, and his epic solo walk during the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition reveal how Indigenous people have interpreted the Expedition over the intervening sixty years according to their own cultural references. Contemporary interviews on film with David 'Cookie' Minyimak and Archie Brown from Croker Island.

Experience passages from the Manikay ceremony song cycle tracing the Yolngu history of foreign contact with traders from the Indonesian seaport of Makassar. Set against a projected backdrop of striking contemporary images, this performance reflects Yolngu understandings of Country, ecology and history.

This free public event will be staged in the Museum Hall.

Charles Mountford's Movies at the NFSA
Thursday 19 November

Visit the National Film and Sound Archive for a free film night showcasing archival footage by Charles P Mountford.

> National Schools Competition

A national competition open to secondary school students in years 11 and 12 is being run in conjunction with the symposium and with the support of the Embassy of the United States of America, Principals Australia, the Dare to Lead program and the Fulbright Commission.

Check this website regularly for updates on the symposium and related events.

Further information on the Arnhem Land Expedition and relevant collections (held at the National Museum of Australia and at other institutions throughout Australia and the United States of America) will also be made available through this website. As one of the long-term outcomes of the symposium the Museum intends to develop an online resource which includes a portal to collections associated with the 1948 Expedition located in institutions around the world.

We would welcome any additional information relating to the Expedition, associated collections, the Expedition members and their descendants.

> Contacts