Documenting the overlooked, imperfect and unknown

Following the initial assessment to determine which objects were suitable and stable enough for digitisation, a temporary photography studio was set up in the west wing, and the collection store was decanted. Objects were relocated to the studio, grouped according to size and category. Each object was labelled to ensure that its registration number could be entered into metadata once a photo was taken.

Despite the tight timeframe, we were deliberate in finding the best angle and lighting for each object. These decisions were beyond aesthetic. Our objective was to capture the details that are difficult to see, impossible to feel or easily overlooked by the most attentive viewers: a maker’s mark on a tiny plate attached to an engine; the fabric lining on the sole of shellwork shoes; the canine shaped figurehead on a ship model; the inscription on a 2cm diameter paper disc representing Saturn in an eighteenth-century armillary sphere; or a handwritten note on a Cambridge Fluxmeter that reveals the address of the factory in which it was once used. These close-ups of the objects make visible what is often hidden and allow curators and researchers to forensically examine an object when in-person visits are impractical.

The digitisation process also brought into focus the vulnerability of tangible materials. We took the opportunity to record conservation concerns, provide treatment, and document condition issues. The presence of white rust on the metal surface of an ammeter, flaking paint on a wooden sign, mould growth and foxing are painful reminders of some of the challenges we must face in a heritage-listed building sitting on a coastal headland. This 1882 cable station has its own charming characters – and its unique problems: gaps in the 19^th-century timber floorboards, concrete slabs eroded by decades of foot traffic, and an onsite storage repurposed from an office space – equipped with a fuel stove! They are the realities we need to contend with when caring for a collection housed in a historic structure.

While decanting the collection store, we identified several items not recorded in the collection management system, such as maps and plans hand drawn on translucent paper by National Parks and Wildlife Service staff – who was managing the Museum during 1988 and 2017; fragments from the Bare Island bridge; boxes of photographic prints and slides awaiting cataloguing; and previously deaccessioned items that had not yet been disposed. Knowing the existence of these materials allowed us to view our collection in historical context, including the shifts in governance, changing collection priorities, and evolving audience interests. Encountering these objects firsthand also helped inform future exhibitions and programs. Ultimately, we want collection materials to be seen, studied and discussed – within the limits of preservation requirements – rather than being locked in the vault for eternity.

The undigitisable

Having completed the digitisation of most three-dimensional objects, our focus turns to unframed prints, photographic negatives, and the philately collection. Apart from digitising our own holdings, we are working with Dr Peter McKenzie to digitise selected material from his personal archive as part of the Museum’s Elders in Residence program. A prolific photographer and academic with insatiable curiosity, McKenzie has amassed so far a substantial body of work and collection – a colossal yet extremely exciting assignment for us. We will also be working with the archive of John Cann, most well-known as the ‘Snake man’ of La Perouse, who has documented countless moments in La Perouse, Yarra Bay, Kurnell and the broader Gamay/Botany Bay area, and meticulously noted the subjects and locations of his photographs. On top of these, as a long-term project, the Museum has been collecting oral histories to document the personal experiences of Elders from the La Perouse Aboriginal community.

The digitisation of these personal archives extends the Museum’s role beyond stewarding our own collection to preserving locally held knowledge and memories. Creating digital surrogates of these materials and making selected content accessible would undoubtedly deepen our understanding of the First Nations culture and local history.

However, when do we stop?

At the Museum, we constantly reflect on the limit of digitisation: certain aspects cannot be digitised – yet – such as smell, texture, or the patina. In such cases, it is crucial to experience the objects in person and engage with them in a more intimate way.

Another question worth asking is: just because something can be digitised, does it mean they should be? The preservation of audiovisual materials from the Strehlow Collection featuring the ceremonial life of Aranda men in Central Australia is a good case study. A collaboration between NFSA, the Aranda Elders and the Strehlow Research Centre in Alice Springs, the project aimed to preserve and digitise these cultural materials for future generations. However, the content depicts aspects of cultural life which were meant to be seen by Aboriginal men only, and the challenge lay in how to engage with these elements in a respectable and professional way. Throughout the project, Aranda Elders were involved in each step, and Aranda people were given the means to manage their own cultural collections and control access to their secret-sacred and gender-specific materials. Tasha James, Wiradjuri woman and Indigenous audiovisual archives specialist who worked on the project emphasised the role of custodians of such content – that is collection institutions like us – in upholding the customary and law protocols to ensure materials of such nature were experienced as they were supposed to be. In our own practice, following the Indigenous cultural and intellectual property protocols is a start. Led by the Museum’s Curator First Nations, our consultation process consistently engages the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, Gujaga Foundation and the wider First Nations community living in La Perouse.*

Reflecting on the significance of digitising cultural materials, James says, it’s about ‘keeping the pathways to the ancestors alive, because they’re able to reconnect with, and maintain, their history and culture’. As she beautifully puts it, people working on the archiving and preserving of the materials were ‘contributing to cultural maintenance and to the healing of communities, and of spirit, and of all these other things where the impact of colonisation has been felt’. This sentiment resonates deeply with the La Perouse Museum.*

Notes:

*Information and quotes are from the article “The secret and the sacred: a conversation between Paolo Cherchi Usai and Tasha James” in Notebook Issue 7: Threshold of the visible (2025)
 

Read more about the Central Australian Aboriginal Digitisation Project on NFSA website