Warlpiri Project travels to Germany to retrieve artefacts from Senckenberg Research Institute

A special handover ceremony is set to take place in Germany – and representatives from the Red Centre have travelled all the way there to take part.

The Warlpiri cultural materials to be returned by Dr Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt include sacred men’s objects and everyday objects such as Karli (boomerangs), Wurlampi (knives), Pikirri (spear thrower) and Kurdiji (shields). Pictures: Sven Trankner

Warlpiri leaders have made a mammoth trip to Europe to retrieve a series of artefacts from a private collection, which will be handed over in a ceremony live-streamed back to the community.

Warlpiri Project Elders have travelled to Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany – a more than 20 hour journey – to reclaim a series of artefacts from Austrian human ethologist professor Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt’s son Dr. Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt.

The formal handover will take place Thursday, October 24.

Professor Eibl-Eibesfeldt visited the Warlpiri people in 1972 to study the “universality of human behaviour” his son said.

“For many years he documented everyday behaviour in Europe, Bali, Japan and regularly visited and documented Indigenous communities with few contacts with German culture,” he said.

Austrian human ethologist Professor Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt in the Tanami Desert, 1972. Picture: Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt-HEFA (copyright)

During the 1972 visit, Professor Eibl-Eibesfeldt was assisted by two Warlpiri men, Jimmy Jungarrayi Spencer and Banjo Jungarrayi Tex, capturing footage which will be shown for the first time in Frankfurt.

Nelson Tex, son of Banjo Jungarrayi Tex, was not able to make the trip to Germany, but is waiting with eager anticipation for their return to country.

“I think about these objects and am in shock. The fact that my father’s objects are there in Germany and coming home. I want to follow in his footsteps and make sure my children do too,” he said.

“When these objects are brought back home, I want to be part of that and be able to share that with my children. I’m not going to stop teaching them.”

The objects being returned include sacred men’s objects and everyday objects such as Karli (boomerangs), Wurlampi (knives), Pikirri (spear thrower) and Kurdiji (shields).

After the formal handover, the artefact will travel to the South Australian Museum in Adelaide.

Afterwards they will be transferred to the planned cultural centre in Yuendumu.

Originally published as Warlpiri Project travels to Germany to retrieve artefacts from Senckenberg Research Institute