A panel discussion with Dr. Charlotte Galloway, OAM and Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU, and Bronwyn Campbell, Senior Curator, Provenance, National Gallery of Australia.
This event is part of the Unearthed: Chinese Funerary Ceramics exhibition public program.
Bronwyn Campbell will discuss the National Gallery of Australia's evolving approach to the ethical repatriation of cultural heritage, examining the frameworks it has developed for provenance research and the practical challenges of returning cultural objects in partnership with source communities.
Dr Charlotte Galloway will explore some of the central questions surrounding repatriation, including who should receive returned cultural materials, who determines cultural significance, and how collecting histories continue to shape contemporary debates.
The presentations will be followed by a moderated conversation and audience Q&A facilitated by ANU Professor Ari Heinrich, FAHA, Gallery Director at the Australian Centre on China in the World.
About the Speakers
Bronwyn Campbell, Senior Curator, Provenance, National Gallery of Australia
Bronwyn is the National Gallery of Australia’s Senior Curator, Provenance, stewarding research into the ownership histories of over 155,000 works of art to evaluate their legal and ethical suitability for the national collection. This work is the result of over a decade of policy evolution sparked by the Australian government’s 2014 seizure of a thousand-year-old Indian bronze Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja). The National Gallery is now setting an industry-leading benchmark for ethical collection management, promoting a culture of research and transparency that pays respect to creator and descendant communities and has resulted in the return of hundreds of works of art to their countries of origin.
Dr Charlotte Galloway OAM, Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU
Dr Charlotte Galloway OAM, Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU, is a specialist Asian art historian with more than 30 years of experience in teaching, research, and professional practice across the museum and higher education sectors. Charlotte is a valuer for the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, and an Expert Examiner for the Office for the Arts, providing specialist advice regarding objects that may be protected under movable cultural heritage legislation. Charlotte has acted as an expert witness for both the Australian and United States governments in cases involving the illicit trade in cultural property, and was a UNESCO expert for the 2019 world heritage nomination of Bagan, Myanmar. A member of ICOM and ICOMOS, in recognition of her longstanding commitment to strengthening museum practice and professional capacity, particularly in Myanmar, she received the Australian ICOM International Award in 2023.
Charlotte was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to education, and to history.
Professor Ari Heinrich, PhD, FAHA
Professor Ari Heinrich is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and Gallery Director at the Australian Centre on China in the World. He has published widely on the use of biological materials in contemporary art and visual culture, and his work has received major international recognition, including the Andy Warhol Arts Writers Grant. His literary translations and essays have been praised by publications including the New York Times, the Paris Review, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. His latest book explores the use of the pigment melanin in art and its implications for race, culture, and science.
Visit the Unearthed exhibition webpage for further information and more events.
If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation plan, please contact the ciw@anu.edu.au.
Image: Court lady playing polo, Tang dynasty, painted earthenware. Gift of TT Tsui, Hong Kong, through the National Gallery of Australian Foundation 1995. Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia.