Museum partners with Pacific community on conservation

Australia's largest collection of historic Pacific artefacts will undergo major preservation work. (Michael Errey/AAP PHOTOS)

Pasifika communities will help guide much-needed restorative works within a cultural gallery at an Australian museum.

The SA Museum houses the nation's largest collection of Pacific materials, which have been on display for decades and require specialist work for long-term preservation.

Spears, shields, bows, arrows and masks are just some of the items in the historic collection.

SA Museum has started a conservation and cultural care program for its Pacific collection. (Michael Errey/AAP PHOTOS)

The restoration will be delivered in partnership with the Pacific Islands Council of South Australia and other Pasifika community leaders, so cultural knowledge shapes care for precious ancestral objects.

"We are proud to see our Pasifika communities leading this vital project," council chief executive Rosanna Maualaivao MacDonald said.

"True partnership means ensuring our communities hold direct agency and an unmediated seat at the table."

The collection needs specialist work for long-term preservation after decades on display. (Michael Errey/AAP PHOTOS)

SA Museum director Samantha Hamilton said the work would also help re-imagine and modernise the exhibition.

"It's really important to work with those communities whose cultural material it is and make sure they're at the table, their voice, their authority, their protocols are embedded in our work," she told AAP.

"There'll be opportunities to have video and story and voices and all the things the gallery really needs to bring it to life so people understand community is alive and thriving."

Although it could take several years for the transformed gallery to re-open, the museum's director said the work was standard practice.

Pasifika communities will help guide the restoration of historic items held in the gallery. (Michael Errey/AAP PHOTOS)

"Our role is to protect and preserve collections for future generations and so this project is just business as usual," Dr Hamilton said.

"It's not just picking and placing the items, but writing information plaques and telling those stories, and that'll be done in collaboration with Pacific communities and researchers."

Ms Maualaivao MacDonald said it was the beginning of long-term storytelling journey to be rooted in mutual respect.

"We are thrilled to be working in lock-step on this transition which includes immediate opportunities for our young leaders to co-design and co-curate upcoming temporary displays," she said.