Remembering the Future

What can a collection of drawings reveal about their makers? Crayon drawings collected by anthropologists provide an illuminating prism through which to explore how the Warlpiri people of Central Australia have seen their place in the world and have been seen by others. In a lucid style Remembering the Future tracks the return to communities of an important collection, six decades after they were made. Discussions with many people, journeys to places and archival research build a compelling account of the colonial and contemporary circumstances of Warlpiri lives.

About the Author

Melinda Hinkson is a social anthropologist with wide-ranging interests in anthropology and visual culture. Since the mid-1990s she has worked with Warlpiri people in central Australia on various forms of visual production and mediation. She has published widely on the mediated relationships between Warlpiri and wider Australia, the history of Australian anthropology and the politics of knowledge production. Currently a senior lecturer in anthropology and Visual Culture Research at the Australian national university, from mid-2014 Melinda embarks on a four-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. She has previously written/published Aboriginal Sydney; Coercive reconciliation, An appreciation of differenceand Culture crisis.