The Boomerang Effect: The Aboriginal Arts of Australia

‘The Boomerang Effect’ welcomes its visitors in a space evocative of a contemporary art gallery. Here the MEG unveils one of its finest collections and reveals the wealth of indigenous Australia’s cultural heritage. Visiting this exhibition, we understand how the attempts to suppress Aboriginal culture since the 18th century have ended up having the opposite of their desired result. Utilitarian objects and weapons (boomerangs, throwing sticks, spears, shields) and artefacts used in exchanges between communities (engraved pearl shells, message sticks) – pieces whose presence is extremely rare in museums – recall the history of the planned destruction of Aboriginal culture. The exhibition then retraces the history which made the MEG the depository of extremely important Australian collections. Find out more about the ‘Boomerang Effect’ exhibition from the MEG’s website.

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Mawa Masque (early 20th century), Queensland, Australia. Photo: © MEG, J. Watts

Painting on bark by Jimmy Midjawmidjaw, around 1964. Photo: © MEG, J. Watts

Ged Nor Beizam (Requin de récif – Home Reef Shark) (2015), Torres Strait Islanders. Photo: © MEG, J. Watts

Nom inconnu, du fleuve Adelaïde (around 1913), Paul Heinrich Matthias Foelsche. Photo: © MEG, J. Watts

Wagyl Disturbed (Wagyl dérangé) (1988), Geoffrey Gordon Lindsay Ponde. © Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Môtiers