Unearthed | Who Owns the Past? Repatriation, Provenance, and Cultural Heritage

As part of the Unearthed: Chinese Funerary Ceramics exhibition, Dr. Charlotte Galloway, OAM and Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU, and Bronwyn Campbell, Senior Curator, Provenance, National Gallery of Australia, will discuss repatriation, provenance, and cultural heritage. The panel will be facilitated by ANU Professor Ari Heinrich, FAHA, Gallery Director at the Australian Centre on China in the World. 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 Ari Heinrich.