First Peoples Art and Culture

The First Peoples Art and Culture (FPAC) team are responsible for a global collection of over 12,000 items.

These include cultural belongings and artworks from First People across Australia, the Pacific, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

More than two-thirds of this collection originate from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji, in addition to other Pasifika people and regions including Aotearoa (New Zealand) Samoa, Tonga, Niue, and Kiribati.

Tasmanian Aboriginal focus

FPAC collaborates with First Peoples on projects and exhibitions, particularly those that promote self-determined cultural expression and support cultural continuity in Lutruwita/Tasmania.

A core priority for the First Peoples Art and Culture team is ethically and respectfully facilitating relationships between First Peoples and their Ancestral cultural belongings.

The First Peoples Art and Culture team undertake collection care, community access and engagement, exhibitions and other projects, research, and acquisitions, with a focus on pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal) culture and belongings. 

Commitment to ethical practice

TMAG is guided since 2003 by a Tasmanian Aboriginal Advisory Council and First Peoples: A Roadmap (Australian Museums and Galleries Association, 2018) which outlines best practice for Indigenous operations in and engagement with museums.  

TMAG acknowledges its history. Founded in 1885, it was partly formed from collections of the Royal Society of Tasmania  and carries a legacy of unethical practices, including the collection and mistreatment of Aboriginal Ancestors (human remains), and contributed to the misrepresentation of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and culture.

TMAG works directly with First Peoples to actively repatriate Ancestors and significant cultural belongings back to their rightful communities.

On 21 February 2021, TMAG and the Royal Society of Tasmania issued a joint formal Apology   to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community for the pain, suffering and ongoing trauma their institutions have caused.

• Royal Society of Tasmania Apology to Tasmania Aboriginal people

Projects include:

• ningina tunapri (opened 2005 )
• Our land: parrawa parrawa! Go away!(opened 2012)
• tayenebe/exchange – Tasmanian Aboriginal women’s fibrework (2009 - 2012)
• kanalaritja - An Unbroken String (2016 – 2019)
• taypani milaythina-tu – Return to Country (2022 – ongoing)
• Rex Greeno – Memories through Sea Stories (2024 – 2025)