The accompanying title to the major Museum exhibition, Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation, 23 April - 2 August 2015.

This book features superb new photography and stunning landscape shots with an extraordinary selection of objects showcasing the beauty and knowledge embodied in works of art and everyday life from Indigenous Australia.

This ground-breaking new publication explores the profound impact and legacy of colonialism, the nature of collecting and the changing meaning of objects now in the collection of the British Museum. The encounters between Indigenous peoples and colonists were complex and nuanced, and contemporary Australian society is still dealing with this legacy, trying to transform or reconcile different worldviews.

More about the authors

Gaye Sculthorpe is Curator, Oceania, British Museum, and curator of the exhibition Indigenous Australia: enduring civilization.

John Carty is Research Fellow, Australia National University.

Howard Morphy is Research Professor of Anthropology, Australia National University.

Maria Nugent is Research Fellow, Australia National University.

Ian Coates is Head – Collections Development, National Museum of Australia

Lissant Bolton is Keeper, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, British Museum.

Jonathan Jones is an Aboriginal (Wiradjuri / Kamilaroi) artist and curator