APP3822: National Museum of Ethnology, Japan - Re-encountering the George Brown Collection

I propose to research the George Brown Collection of Pacific ethnographic material at the National Museum of Ethnography (Minpaku), Japan. I have been interested in the material qualities and unique history of this collection since I undertook an AHRC International Placement at Minpaku during my PhD studies in 2013. This resulted in a range of practice-based artworks, exhibitions and peer reviewed articles (e.g. McHugh 2015). Re-encountering the collection will enable me to gain an insight into its current state and position within the museum and wider community. Since my initial placement, the collection has been subject to further academic attention. One aspect of this has been Minpaku’s project to build a comprehensive database of the collection. Ethnographic museums are increasingly engaging with discussions of repatriation and decolonisation. The fellowship would enable me to continue to explore how the collection can be made more accessible and engaging. I plan to use photogrammetry and 3D lidar scanning to create digital models of objects from the collection. This will capitalise upon experience gained through my current research, where I am using these to technologies to document endangered material culture and making practices associated with the ceramics industry in Seto, Japan.