Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that such dialogue to investigate the best way to represent two distinct cultural systems must start from the collection store to the gallery floor; and should seek to provide a better pathway into the future.

Paper long abstract:

As a study of the nature of knowledge, justification and rationality of belief, epistemology has a role to play in setting new pathways between the way in which Museums today unpack what they do and go beyond the general public's view of norms from the past century. The Berndt Museum as a collection of cultural material manifesting in art works, archives, photographs, audio-visual and research, has been working with Aboriginal Australian communities since the 1940s when its founders Ronald and Catherine Berndt commenced a lifetime of social anthropological work on the impact of European influence on Aboriginal culture. As Aboriginal people continue to gain higher levels of education, seek to be better informed and engaged in new dialogue surrounding caring for country, using GPS tracking, computer applications and western survey techniques to manage and care for country, so too are they seeking to improve the way in which culture is cared for in Collections.

This paper argues that such dialogue to investigate the best way to represent two distinct cultural systems must start from the collection store to the gallery floor; and should seek to provide a better pathway into the future.