What deserves a glass case?

A conversation with Sachini Poogoda
and Lauren Pratt

Western Australia’s Boola Bardip museum hosts a variety of beautifully curated exhibitions. We were excited to find that one of these was ‘Connections,’ an exploration of WA’s relation to the rest of the world through the Indian Ocean. Here, Portside Review’s editorial interns, Sachini and Lauren, share some of their thoughts on the exhibition and how effective it was at examining WA’s relationship with the coastal communities that call this region home.  

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Sachini Poogoda
Were you surprised to find out the WA Museum Boola Bardip had an exhibition that touched so closely to the ethos at Portside Review (PR)? 

Lauren Pratt
Finding an exhibition right around the corner from the Centre for Stories, where Portside Review is based, was a pleasant surprise. Especially as it ties so closely to PR which is a journal that shares stories from the Indian Ocean. The ‘Connections’ exhibition highlights that ‘[m]illions of people in many communities are connected around this ocean’s rim, sharing a diverse natural and cultural history’. After working with PR for a while now, it’s clear that the work produced in PR differs greatly from what is on show at the museum. Reading prose, poetry, and conversations from people living and belonging to the Indian Ocean is so insightful and beautiful. I felt like I really got to hear individual voices and hear their stories. I think PR and the exhibition digress by the journal’s capacity for creativity; the museum is limited as an institution grounded in preserving history and factual learning.  

A small part of the ‘Connections’ exhibition focused on cultural trading within the Indian Ocean; ‘Trading relationships between countries can lead to cultural exchanges, new ideas and deeper, shared understandings. Traditions and beliefs are often modified, borrowed or copied.’

What are your thoughts on the commodification of cultural artefacts? And the idea of exchanging culture through trade? 

Sachini Poogoda
I understand what you mean about the museum exhibition focusing a lot on the Indian Ocean being a mode of travel, particularly for ships from colonial England, which is not quite what I expected. I thought it would give more weight to the countries connected through it, kind of like what Weihsin Gui discusses in the piece we published in PR’s first issue, ‘How to Know the Indian Ocean.’ 

To answer your question, I think the commodification you’re referring to was a display of a painted Indigenous drone tube and rain stick that was made and sold in Kuta, Bali. The plaque below asked ‘Is the art represented on these objects stolen? Or is it being shared? Does this help or hinder Aboriginal Australian culture?’ I appreciate that this question was raised, however I do wish that the display had gone into more detail about the concept of cultural appropriation and why it is problematic. 

In this case, I think these items fall into the realm of cultural appropriation. This article by Aboriginal woman, Angelina Hurley, does a good job of clearly and simply explaining why. Here, art that is culturally significant to Indigenous people is being made and sold as genuine by non-Indigenous people who then profit. While ocean trade has increased Australia and Asia’s influence on each other, to limit the exhibit to only this is an over-simplification. I would have liked to have seen other examples of Asian-Australian amalgamation, like Cher Tan’s discussion of mixing language that we published in Issue One, alongside a conversation that unpacked the effects of cultural appropriation. I love the idea of trading culture, I love sharing and appreciating the diversity that is accessible to us because of our proximity to Indian Ocean communities, but to do that we need to appreciate and acknowledge the people these cultures and items come from.  

I have to ask, what did you think about the display on WA stereotypes – namely how other Asian countries perceive us? 

Lauren Pratt
Yes I agree with you – I wasn’t expecting the exhibition to focus so heavily on British and Western Australian connections. I also wish that there was more detail about cross-cultural relations and how cultures from across the Indian Ocean have impacted and influenced each other. Some displays, such as the one you mentioned, were so small and made up a tiny part of the overall exhibition when cultural appropriation is actually a really complex topic. Especially considering the museum is a place where many children come to learn. There needs to be more than just a proposed question of ‘Does this help or hinder Aboriginal Australian culture?’ While this question does encourage people to reflect and question, there is no exploration or room for discussion about cultural appropriation. A really great piece in PR’s first issue is by Veronica Heritage-Gorrie, a proud Kurnai woman and writer, that details how Australia’s health system is failing Aboriginal people. Reading works like Veronica’s allows people to learn from first-hand experiences which is a far greater resource than a proposed standalone question. I think it is incredibly hard for people to learn from this particular display because there is no factual information or arguments being made. It is just sitting there in a glass box.  

The display on WA stereotypes was interesting as it’s a current topic, especially since the implementation of Premier Mark McGowan’s hard border control during the Covid-19 pandemic. I think what was most interesting about the display on WA stereotypes was the Bintang singlet. It brings to mind such a vivid image which I guess is the stereotype of someone returning from a holiday to Bali sporting their new outfit. I think it’s very interesting to see such a popular local Indonesian beer become part of a local Australian stereotype. I think the Bintang singlet really speaks to how connected Indonesia and Australia are even if the thing connecting us is a commercial and consumable product like beer.  

What were your thoughts on the display of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet? 

Sachini Poogoda
Ah, yes, I was hoping you’d mention the Bintang singlet. I couldn’t quite believe it had made its way behind a glass case at a museum but I agree with you. It makes me cringe to realise it has become so iconic.  

I thought the choice to display Winton’s Cloudstreet as the most recognisable Western Australian book was...interesting. The caption said something about his writing of place in WA being significant. Winton is an incredibly well-known writer, and Cloudstreet itself has been translated many times over. I think the display would have made a greater impact on me if some other authors had received a mention – Sally Morgan, and her book My Place for example, who also writes about and is deeply connected to this place. Cloudstreet is one of those texts that every WA kid is made to read during school, which is part of what makes it so well known. But does that mean other countries around the Indian Ocean associate it with our identity? I don’t know if that’s the case, I’ve never had anyone who wasn’t from WA bring it up to me before. So the fact that it was propped up in a glass case was questionable to me. I think a more productive use of the space could have been a suggestion of books that engaged with Western Australian identity in different ways.   

There was a small section in a different exhibition ‘Changes’ that discussed the Indian Ocean as a life source, what did you think about that? 

Lauren Pratt
This was a really nice part of the ‘Changes’ exhibition. I think it's really great to see a section dedicated to the ocean, how it is a part of our livelihoods, and how we need to protect those resources. When you enter this area there is an opening quote: ‘Water nourishes communities, cultural health, and economies. It can also be central to a person’s identity. But wholesale harvesting of this precious and limited resource has damaged both fresh and marine waters. Careful management of aquatic environments is essential for a sustainable future.’ The ‘Connections’ exhibition focused on people and culture and I think this small section in ‘Changes’ about sustaining the Indian Ocean is a really nice complement to that. When reading about people’s lives from countries around and within the Indian Ocean about their connection to place, it’s easy to forget that the Indian Ocean is a living thing itself; one that needs to be sustained, protected and conserved.  

A quote by Jawaharlal Nehru’s, India’s first Prime Minister (1955), stood out to me; ‘Australia and New Zealand are almost in [the Asian] region. They certainly do not belong to Europe, much less to America…’  

The exhibition focused significantly on the British influence over Western Australia, but then included Jawaharlal Nehru’s quote arguing that Australia belongs more to Asia. What are your thoughts on this? 

Sachini Poogoda
Yes, I loved that quote! I think it exemplifies an attitude of leaning into the Eastern influences and culture that Australia is proximal to and challenges this idea that the Western canon is all that exists. However, as you said, the quote was flanked by displays about colonial British influence on Australia, and Australia’s part in wars where we fought on behalf of Britain. I agree that this is a significant part of Australia’s history. But for an exhibition about Australia’s ‘Connections’ with the whole world, I did find it Euro-centric, and the bits of information that were about Asia were simplistic and lacked depth. For example, there was an interactive table that listed all of Australia’s trade, political and cultural relationships with countries all over the world: while it included Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, it only presented surface-level facts that could be easily found on the internet, like ‘Cambodia has been trading with Australia for ~30 years.’ I thought the Asian-Australian relationships weren’t given the weight they deserved, and any question of African-Australian relationships were all but ignored. I think this highlighted to me that, while I see Australia and Asia as intrinsically connected, this is a newer concept to most non-Asian Western Australians.  

Ultimately, the ‘Connections’ exhibition covered colonial perspectives in detail while glazing over topics that involved non-Western countries. The counter-context missed by the museum exhibit is offered by publications like Westerly Mag, The Centre for Stories and even popular media sites like SBS Voices. Pieces from these platforms show the high level of nuance and detail that is achieved when featuring authentic voices from around the world.