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Repatriation of Reverend A.W. Brough Collection
Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India - 2000

In February 2000, the Australian Museum returned thirty-three items of material culture to the Government Museum, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The items are both religious and secular in nature and have continuing significance to people in the Chennai area.

The repatriated objects items were part of a larger collection made by Reverend A.W. Brough (1861-1934), an Australian Protestant missionary who worked in the Coimbatore, Erode and Madras Districts of southern India between 1894-1934. Mrs M. R. McKenzie, Reverend Brough's niece, donated the collection of some two hundred items to the Australian Museum in 1973. The collection consists of models as well as items from everyday use in these districts of southern India. According to Mrs McKenzie, the models were made by the peoples of Erode for the missionaries to use in illustrating talks given overseas about the Indian people and way of life. Other items in the collection include handicrafts made by students at some of the schools that Reverend Brough established, gifts that he was given in his role as a missionary, tourist items, and temple artefacts given to Reverend Brough by villagers on conversion to Christianity. The collection documents Australian Missionary activities in India and the socio-religious conditions of people in rural areas of this region over a period of 40 years.

In 1999, Mr Michael McMichael, Reverend Brough's great grandson and nephew of Mrs McKenzie, suggested that the Australian Museum might return some of these items to the village of Erode, where many of the objects are no longer made. After negotiations with the Chennai Museum, an agreement was made to divide the collection between India and Australia, because it has strong social and historical value for both countries. Thirty-three items were chosen for repatriation.

The formal handing over ceremony took place in Chennai on 28 February 2000. During the ceremony, the Australian Museum was presented with a bronze figure of the Nataraja (Dancing Siva) as a gesture of thanks. The figure represents an important symbol of the relationship created between the two museums during the repatriation process of the Rev. A.W. Brough collection.

Repatriation ceremony at the Chennai Museum. Mr Rob Laurie, Australian High Commissioner to India, presenting objects from the Rev. A. W. Brough collection to Mr S. Ramakrishnan, IAS, Secretary, Tamil Development-Culture and Religious Endowments Department, Tamil Nadu. Also attending were Mr R. Kannan, Commissioner, Chennai Museum (far right) and Mr Vinod Daniel, Scientific Officer, Australian Museum (second from left).
Photo: K. Pichumani

Copyright © Australian Museum, 2002