This collection covers the history, evolution and future of museums in the south-west Pacific. Its 15 contributors come from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds, and include Indigenous practitioners, curators, academics and Pacific studies specialists. At 268 pages, with a comprehensive bibliography and detailed index, it is the most thorough examination to date of museums in the south-west Pacific. The prominence of contributing authors and depth of their research reflect current academic interest in the emergence and development of museums in the region.

The book is organised into four sections: 'Island Melanesia', 'Northern Australia', 'New Guinea' and 'Reflections on the future of Indigenous museums'. Stanley introduces the key themes of Indigenous curatorship, management and self determination; the role of objects and intangible heritage; custom and the renaissance of cultural heritage; community development; agency and audience; the functions of museums; and engagement with tourism.

The Western-style museum was introduced to the Pacific by European settlers and colonists. Today, Indigenous people reinterpret and adapt Western museological forms and practices to suit their locale and cultural beliefs. Lissant Bolton's chapter on the Fieldworkers and Women's Culture Project at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre details innovative projects that document Vanuatu's intangible and cultural heritage, and shows how the collection and documentation of cultural heritage can draw kastom back into a country's national development.

Other recurring themes include the involvement and influence of Europeans in establishing and developing museums, issues of Indigenous cultural identity, and different ways of dealing with legacies of colonialism. Lawrence Foana'ota observes the changing attitudes of Indigenous people to the concept of a Western-style museum in the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands National Museum, established in 1969, was initiated by expatriates, based on European concepts and funded by United Kingdom foundations. With independence in 1978, cultural identities were strengthened and attitudes towards the work and place of the museum in the political structure of the Solomon Islands changed.

The core function and activities of museums in the south-west Pacific are addressed in a number of chapters. Unlike European museums, which have significant collections of Pacific objects but are far removed geographically from Pacific Islanders and their culture, museums and cultural centres in the south-west Pacific can engage with local Indigenous people and conduct effective programs and activities that incorporate aspects of cultural heritage and contemporary life in the Pacific. Many Indigenous people believe the museum has a custodial role in the protection and preservation of cultural heritage. The National Museum and Art Gallery of Papua New Guinea is referred to as a haus tambuna or a 'house of the ancestors', one that looks after powerful and dangerous objects.

Using the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in New Caledonia as a case study, Diane Losche discusses the tendency of Pacific museums to avoid stories of violence and 'contaminated' histories. Losche suggests that violence and difficult upheavals are part of Pacific history and if Pacific museums continue to avoid such stories 'institutions risk becoming banal and disconnected from the very locale in which they live'.

The role of Indigenous museums in the economic development of the region through tourism and shop sales is highlighted in several chapters. Using the 'Troupe du Wetr' dance group as a case study, Tate LeFevre discusses the positive impact of tourism on the Kanak people in Lifou, New Caledonia. The revival of intangible heritage is seen to be equally, if not more, important to the preservation of Indigenous material heritage in the south-west Pacific. LeFevre also raises issues of audience and appropriateness, what to share and what to 'keep safe', and copyright.

Two chapters consider Indigenous museums in northern Australia. Anita Herle, Jude Philp and Leilani Bin Juda detail the development and opening of the Gab Titui Cultural Centre in 2004, on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. Key factors contributing to its successful beginning are clear direction and forward planning, collaboration of key stakeholders, extensive consultation with Indigenous communities and adequate initial funding from a variety of government and arts bodies. Visitors are fundamental to the success and future of Indigenous museums in the south-west Pacific and their role is discussed at length in this chapter.

Eric Venbrux raises further issues surrounding European influence in the development of museums in Australia's north. Venbrux's chapter is concerned with the long history of Bathurst Island and Melville Island as a 'destination culture' and 'living museum', where Europeans visited to see 'the aboriginal in his natural state', collect objects and view dances, ceremonies and sites. Venbrux discusses the conditions and practices leading to the 'museumification' of the islands and the participation of local Indigenous people in this process.

Four chapters discuss museums and cultural centres in New Guinea. Alison Dundon's chapter is concerned with the interplay and influence of European agents, evangelical Christianity and custom in the development of local Indigenous artwork and the Gogodala Cultural Centre in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

Heritage development is increasingly tied to the economic development of museums in the south-west Pacific. Christin Kocher Schmid's chapter is concerned with the political role of the Babek Bema Yoma Cultural Centre in Teptep, Papua New Guinea, focusing on its significance for different stakeholders and as a means for accessing the cash economy.

Several chapters capture the innovative, resilient and dynamic nature of museum practice in the south-west Pacific. As Kreps notes, 'the cultural contexts in which museums and cultural centres exist in the Pacific region are complex and multilayered'. Stanley argues that museums in the south-west Pacific need not 'fit into' a Western museum model but should develop alongside it, highlighting Indigenous values and elements.

The Future of Indigenous Museums: Perspectives from the Southwest Pacific is a valuable addition to our knowledge of how cultural settings, along with social, economic, historical and political forces, influence the development and priorities of museums. The book should serve as a valuable resource for museum studies students, academics, historians, museum professionals and development agencies interested in museums and the cultural heritage of Indigenous people in the south-west Pacific.

Kylie Moloney is an assistant curator in the Department of World Cultures at National Museums Scotland.