Shona Coyne is a Menang woman, born and raised in Albany, Western Australia. She recently completed her first co-curation project of the very successful Yurlmun: Mokare Mia Boodja exhibition at the Museum of the Great Southern.
Shona is currently involved in locating and recording Aboriginal artefacts that originate from Australia's South West. In early May, Collecting the West supported Shona to travel to the National Museum of Scotland where she examined Aboriginal artefacts collected from Albany by Robert Neill in the 1840's. Shona worked with Curator of Oceania at The British Museum, Dr Gaye Sculthorpe. Their research will inform the Western Australian Museum, National Museums Scotland, The British Museum, the National Museum of Ireland, the South Australian Museum and Museums Victoria.
While in the UK, Shona also attended CTW's symposium at the British Museum. She presented a paper about:
- the Western Australian Museum's Emerging Curators program
- how the return of aboriginal artefacts and collections back onto country can impact a community and provide continual cultural knowledge exchange opportunities
- The challenges, successes and critical aspects that led to the success of the Yurlmun project
Above: Collecting the West researchers examine items from the Neill collection at National Museums Scotland. Image reproduced by kind permission of National Museums Scotland.
Above: Artefacts in the Neill collection at the National Museum of Scotland. Image reproduced by kind permission of National Museums Scotland.