LOOT: Curating Empire at the New Perth Museum

JP Reid, Exhibitions and Interpretation Manager for Culture Perth & Kinross, explores and examines the stories and circumstances behind the 'acquisition' of several instruments in the Perth Museum Collection.

This talk explores a group of musical instruments collected by the Perth Literary and Antiquarian Society, examining their stories and the circumstances of their ‘acquisition.’ From present-day Myanmar and Iran, to the west coast of Canada and Aotearoa, these instruments reflect the cultural practises of those communities who made and used them, as well as the exercise of imperial dominance, and resulting devaluing and erasure of those cultural practises.