Image: Before leaving Paris, the rikawa was checked by condition report, a detailed physical assessment of the condition of the object, before being placed into a specially designed and climate-controlled case for the journey by Stéphanie Leclerc-Caffarel, curator of Pacific Collections at Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. (PS)
After 230 years overseas, a cultural artefact has finally returned to Country.
A kelp water carrier – or rikawa, as it is known to Palawa, Tasmanian Aboriginal people – that was made in the late 18th century by Palawa people near Recherche Bay has made its way home from overseas where it was being displayed at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris.
Having been formally identified in 2019, the rikawa will be loaned for two years to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) as part of a new exhibition, taypani milaythina-tu: Return to Country.
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