Collecting the Condominium: a comparative analysis of collections from Vanuatu in the ex-colonial countries of Britain and France.

This project examines the entangled relationship between Vanuatu, Britain and France through the lens of ethnographic collections now held in the two ex-colonial powers. French and British navigators reached the Pacific archipelago in the 18th century; Cook in 1774 named it New Hebrides, a name used during joint colonial administration as a condominium from 1906 until independence in 1980, when Vanuatu was adopted. Research will focus on little-studied collections and archives in museums in Britain and France, as well as on collections in major institutions. These collections will be examined, in the context of 'decolonising' debates, in terms of the circumstances of collection, the types of material collected, and similarities/differences in collecting practices by administrators, missionaries and others from the two colonial powers. Ni-Vanuatu perspectives will be sought and research results shared in order to build collaborative links between museums and source communities.