In particular, the collection focuses on the world’s emerging knowledge of Australia from the days when the great southern land was a mythological continent, imagined as necessary to balance the weight of the Northern Hemisphere, through to the golden period of European exploration when competing world powers were sailing the world’s oceans seeking military advantage, the conversion of souls, fame and fortune, and the pursuit of knowledge and scientific endeavour. The Portuguese, the Spanish, the British and the Dutch, in particular, were at the forefront of this exploration, and the Silentworld Collection contains original material from all of these nations’ activities, as well as that of the Indigenous populations they encountered.
The arid cliffs, coral reefs and treacherous shallows of the Australian coastline became the graveyard of countless vessels from many nations during the 17th to 19th centuries, and for over a decade the Silentworld Foundation has been mounting expeditions to look for some of the most historically significant shipwrecks of the period yet to be found.
The collection includes not just artefacts found on some of those expeditions, but also documents, paintings, and other memorabilia of the men and women that made these stories so fascinating and who created history through their bravery and quest for knowledge.