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Foreword
Introduction
Manuscripts
Oral Histories
Pictures
Name Index
Subject Index
Advanced Search
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Sensitivity Issues

Some material listed in Mura Gadi has restrictions on usage and access and this is outlined in the Introduction

We ask that all those using Mura Gadi ensure that the information they access is used in a way consistent with the views and sensitivities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Some material listed in the guide has restrictions on access developed in consultation with those who deposited the material in the Library, or other relevant Indigenous communities. Those using the guide are advised that it contains words and descriptions which may be culturally sensitive. Some of the entries also reflect language used in the past which would be considered inappropriate today. Please also be aware that in some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, reading the names of deceased persons, or viewing their images, is considered inappropriate.

Artwork

Family Portrait 2001; acrylic on canvas; approx. 90 cm x 60 cmHeather Kemarre Shearer (b.1959)
Family Portrait 2001
acrylic on canvas; approx. 90 cm x 60 cm
Reproduced courtesy of the artist

Heather Kemarre Shearer is an Arrernte painter. Separated from her mother at birth, she grew up in Adelaide before tracing her birth family and returning to central Australia. Contact with her birth family and senior relatives inspired Shearer to start painting in 1991. Her work encompasses theatre sets, poster and book design, and acrylic paintings that draw on the 'dot' style painting traditions of central Australia. In 1992, Shearer received the NAIDOC Artist of the Year Award for Alice Springs. In 1995, she was appointed chair of the Indigenous Arts Advisory Committee for ArtsSA, a position she held until 1997. Heather Shearer now lives in Alice Springs.

The painting displayed on Mura Gadi is a portrait of Heather Shearer's family - it depicts Shearer, her partner and the four children they have between them. The colours represent the earth, vegetation and the colours of sunset skies. Family Portrait was painted as a design for a leadlight window.

The National Library of Australia thanks Heather Shearer for permission to use and adapt her work on Mura Gadi.

Title

The name, Mura Gadi, contributed by Ngunawal/Ngunnawal elder Matilda House, means 'pathways for searching' in the language of the original inhabitants of the region where the Library is located.

Technical overview

A guide to manuscript, pictures and oral histories in the National Library of Australia relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, has been developed using separate Microsoft Access database tables for each component collection (i.e. Manuscript, Pictures and Oral Histories) which was then migrated to a single XML master in the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) format and to generate print and web versions from this master. The content is updated on a regular basis.

The Library has adopted a naming scheme for persistent identifiers and has a resolver service for linking to digital material no matter where on the Library's website it is currently located.

Records listed in the guide may be searched or browsed by name or by subject. A full description of the Search and Browse functions are available on the Help page.

 

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