The Love-Hate Relationship with Land in Australia: Presenting "Exploitation and Sustainability" in Museums

Abstract

Libby Robin's article about the Australian love-hate relationship to land considers the question of how sustainability and exploitation are presented in Australian museums. At the centre stands the National Museum of Australia, where the author herself works. Robin emphasises that the previously strongly social-history focus of national museums must be completed by an environmental perspective. Additionally, it is important to present the narrative of sustainability not only in a national, but in a continental and global context. Against this background, the concept of land is, on one hand, too narrow (because it is regionally limited); on the other hand, it is useful in illustrating larger questions, such as the negative influence of land use on soils, fresh water bodies, and the ocean, or its effects on CO2 emissions. The histories of a national museum must therefore be framed not only nationally, but also globally: the consequences of human actions on human life all over the world.