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Community Museums: Muluwurri Museum, MilikapitiBy Margie WestIn the Northern Territory thereare a number of importantcommunity museum collectionssuch as the Muluwurri Museumat Milikapiti, Melville Island. Aswell as being important culturaland educational resources for thecommunity, these museums arealso important tourist attractions.As time goes by their collectionsbecome increasingly more importantas records of community history andartistic endeavor, though their exactmeaning and value is not always fullyunderstood. To assist in this processthe National Library of Australia offersCommunity Heritage (CH) grants toassess the significance of culturalheritage objects and collections. In2008, Jilamara Arts & Crafts wassuccessful in obtaining a CH grantand I was subsequently engagedto undertake an assessment of theMuluwurri Museum and its collection.The majority of the collection wasassembled between 1987-88, and is asignificant snapshot of the items madeby high profile artists from the veryfoundation period of Jilamara Artsand Crafts. Along with an importantrange of ceremonial items: burialpoles, bark baskets, body ornaments,spears and figure carvings, thecollection houses some impressiveearly masonite murals from theWelfare period and a substantial printcollection begun in 1994. An importsocial history component is providedby the service medals awardedto Harry “One” Mungatopi of thecommunity’s Tiwi ‘Black Watch’ in theSecond World War.Twenty years on, the assessment ofthe cultural, historical and artisticvalue of the Muluwurri collection wastimely and resulted in other relatedoutcomes such as the cataloguing anddocumentation of the collection, avaluation for insurance purposes, thedevelopment of a policy collectionsmanagement resource and suggestedfuture options to be developed furtherwith in-depth community consultation.The heritage assessment reportwas submitted in a grant proposalfor a purpose-built museum facilitythat has been recently awardedto Jilamara Arts & Crafts. Havingdone their assessment means thatJilamara is now in a good position toproperly plan toward the new display/interpretation/storage/conservationand collection development of theircommunity museum. The culturalheritage assessment is therefore avaluable tool for any communitywishing to better appreciate anddevelop their existing heritagecollections.Art centres interested in thesignificance assessment processcan access two useful publicationsavailable on the National Library ofAustralia website: Significance - AGuide to Assessing the Significanceof Cultural Heritage Objects andCollections go to:www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/5Sharing our stories - Guidelines forHeritage Interpretation (Chapter 5)found at: www.ntwa.com.au/SHARE_REPORT_2007_email_RGB.pdfThe Muluwurri Museum will berehoused as part of Jilamara Art’sforthcoming ABA infrastructuredevelopement project with fundingsecured by ANKAAA.Top: Muluwurri Museum. Photo: Jilamara Arts.Above: Object in community collection.Photo: Margie West.Volume 9: Issue 1 June/July 2009 KeEping Places – Arts Backbone 13