Author: Kate Follington
In early 2017 the VAC Gallery, at the Victorian Archives Centre, launched our latest photographic exhibition Of Kin and Kind: Victorian Communities, which displays historic photographs from the Victorian Government archive alongside contemporary street photographs (see What's On for more information). The curators discovered that Public Record Office Victoria holds relatively few photographs of Aboriginal communities or individuals within the archive, because many government records which relate to Aboriginal history are paper-based.
Some urban Aboriginal networks however recognise the importance of documenting their community events and members by hiring photographer James Henry to be their recordkeeper. VAC Gallery's Kate Follington and Carly Godden spoke with James Henry about his work as a modern day recordkeeper for the Spirit Festival, and other important occasions. See James Henry's interview below, it is part of the Of Kin and Kind exhibition now on show at the Victorian Archives Centre.
For more information on PROV's services to the Koorie community please go to the Koorie Services page.
Material in the Public Record Office Victoria archival collection contains words and descriptions that reflect attitudes and government policies at different times which may be insensitive and upsetting
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be aware the collection and website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.
PROV provides advice to researchers wishing to access, publish or re-use records about Aboriginal Peoples