Michael Jalaru Torres | Bombs, Buttons, Pearls | 2019

Michael Jalaru Torres is a photographer and designer from Broome, Western Australia.

His exhibited artwork titled "Bombs, Buttons, Pearls" is part of the photo series "Collect", in which Jalaru looks into the dark history of collecting deceased ancestors. These have been compiled for numerous German Museums towards the end of the 19th century in Australia. Highlighting the brute past in this pictures, the artist connects them to current day repatriations.

In April 2019 the museum returned the remains of ancestors that had fallen vicim to the pearls industry in Western Australia. They came from those communities the photographer himself is connected to. His impressive picture tell us about the traumas indigenous Australians suffered as they had been enslaved and exploited far beyond their death. The museum acquired the artists work in 2019.