Past and Present Tense: Understanding the Visitor Experience in the Indigenous Australians Exhibition at the Australian Museum

This paper examines one Australian museum’s commitment to create social awareness of political issues within its community. The paper begins by discussing the challenge of cultural representation of Indigenous peoples in the context of civic engagement. Some of the historical and political issues facing Indigenous Australians and their representation in Museums are discussed. A study of the Indigenous Australians exhibition at the Australian Museum in Sydney investigates visitors’ perceptions of the exhibition. Recommendations are made as they relate to community partnerships, interpretive materials, and level of engagement with visitors. The appendix of this paper includes the visitor survey used in the study.