In Episode 2 of Resurgence: Culture Collective, ANU Research Fellow Jilda Andrews talks about the project she initiated in response to her experience as a First Nations’ museum professional and academic—and why it didn’t work. 

The project sought to establish a support network of colleague’s working in collecting institutions, to address issues of cultural safety resulting from their role as mediators between institutional cultures, collections, and communities. But the invitation to look ‘beyond reconciliation’ called for something different—a renewed intent and in purposeful dialogue with Country. In this episode Jilda goes on to explore the provocation offered by the framework of Beyond Reconciliation to reflect on and re-think practice in a forward or future-focussed way. 

For more on Jilda’s thinking about the future of museums, see ‘Dr. Jilda Andrews is reimagining the future of museums’, by Luis Perz, originally published in the ANU Reporter 24 May 2024: 

https://chms.cass.anu.edu.au/news/dr-jilda-andrews-reimagining-future-museums

See also her article: ‘Cool burning the collection: Museum research as a regenerative act’, Australian Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 35, Issue 1–2, April 2024.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/taja.12499

This podcast series was developed from work done through the Beyond Reconciliation project in the School of History at ANU, as part of the Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge (2021–2024). This was one of five ‘Grand Challenges’ mounted by the ANU with the aim to invest in transformative research to impact on the world’s most intractable problems.

The Beyond Reconciliation project was a response to the demand for a thorough-going process of truth-telling about Australia’s past. The central idea of the project was to support capacity building to pursue history-making and truth-telling in local Indigenous communities. The challenge was to work in different ways with different communities to model pathways to ‘telling the true stories they want to tell in the ways they want to tell them’. 

For more information on the Beyond Reconciliation project see:

https://history.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/acih/highlights/beyond-reconciliation-grand-challenge

The podcast series Resurgence: talking about First Nations’ Community-led Historical Practice was produced by Robyn McKenzie, for the Australian Centre for Indigenous History (ACIH) in the School of History at the Australian National University. Sound editing and composition by Emma Hoy of Signal Creative. This Podcast series has been supported by funding from the Australian National University’s Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 3 of Resurgence, Object Histories we hear from ANU researchers Maria Nugent and Robyn McKenzie discussing projects that involved the exhibition of objects returned to country and their communities of origin. 

Maria Nugent, Head of the School of History at ANU, describes the process undertaken by the La Perouse community to develop the exhibition ‘Wadgayawa Nhay Dhadjan Wari (they made them a long time ago) mounted in 2023–2024 at the State Library of NSW. Download a copy of the catalogue accompanying the exhibition from the State Library of NSW website:

https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/wadgayawa-nhay-dhadjan-wari

Robyn McKenzie, Research Fellow on the Beyond Reconciliation project at ANU discusses her work with Wiradyuri Elders facilitating the development of the Wiradyuri Gallery—part of the redevelopment of the exhibition galleries at the Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga. See the documentary ‘25,000 Objects (or how I learned to redevelop a regional museum)’ on the Museum’s website.  Watch from 14:25min to see the physical space and exhibits in the Wiradyuri Gallery:

https://museumriverina.com.au/explore/museum-videos/25,000-objects-or-how-i-learned-to-redevelop-a-regional-museum

This podcast series was developed from work done through the Beyond Reconciliation project in the School of History at ANU, as part of the Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge (2021–2024). This was one of five ‘Grand Challenges’ mounted by the ANU with the aim to invest in transformative research to impact on the world’s most intractable problems.

The Beyond Reconciliation project was a response to the demand for a thorough-going process of truth-telling about Australia’s past. The central idea of the project was to support capacity building to pursue history-making and truth-telling in local Indigenous communities. The challenge was to work in different ways with different communities to model pathways to ‘telling the true stories they want to tell in the ways they want to tell them’. 

For more information on the Beyond Reconciliation project see:

https://history.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/acih/highlights/beyond-reconciliation-grand-challenge

The podcast series Resurgence: talking about First Nations’ Community-led Historical Practice was produced by Robyn McKenzie, for the Australian Centre for Indigenous History (ACIH) in the School of History at the Australian National University. Sound editing and composition by Emma Hoy of Signal Creative. This Podcast series has been supported by funding from the Australian National University’s Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 4 of Resurgence, Histories in Place Cultural Engagement Consultant Lloyd Pigram joins researchers Dr Mike Jones (formerly ANU, now University of Tasmania) and Dr Ben Silverstein (ANU) to talk about their collaborative work on Yawuru Country in and around Rubibi (Broome). The project included interviews with Yawuru knowledge holders, and the development of a digital story ‘Jangu yirr Janyjagurdiny’ exploring the history and culture of the area Europeans came to call Thangoo Station. Lloyd, Mike and Ben talk about the co-creation process used, the value of working in place, and the recognition that approaches used by academic historians are often not a useful place to start when thinking about the long timeframes and complex, layered stories found on Country.

You can visit the digital story ‘Jangu yirr Janyjagurdiny’ at marking-country.re.anu.edu.au/yawuru/

This podcast series was developed from work done through the Beyond Reconciliation project in the School of History at ANU, as part of the Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge (2021–2024). This was one of five ‘Grand Challenges’ mounted by the ANU with the aim to invest in transformative research to impact on the world’s most intractable problems.

The Beyond Reconciliation project was a response to the demand for a thorough-going process of truth-telling about Australia’s past. The central idea of the project was to support capacity building to pursue history-making and truth-telling in local Indigenous communities. The challenge was to work in different ways with different communities to model pathways to ‘telling the true stories they want to tell in the ways they want to tell them’. 

For more information on the Beyond Reconciliation project see:

https://history.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/acih/highlights/beyond-reconciliation-grand-challenge

The podcast series Resurgence: talking about First Nations’ Community-led Historical Practice was produced by Robyn McKenzie, for the Australian Centre for Indigenous History (ACIH) in the School of History at the Australian National University. Sound editing and composition by Emma Hoy of Signal Creative. This Podcast series has been supported by funding from the Australian National University’s Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first introductory episode of the Resurgence podcast series, Laurie Bamblett, Senior Lecturer in Aboriginal History at the Australian National University, and lead researcher on the Beyond Reconciliation project, talks about the concept of ‘resurgence’. 

To find out more about Laurie’s work check out his book, based on his PhD thesis, Our stories are our survival, first published in 2013 by Aboriginal Studies Press — which as he describes in this episode was inspired by the great storytellers in his community.

Laurie’s entries on ‘Nangar’ also known as Jimmy Clements and 'Ooloogan’ also known as John Noble are available through the Australian Dictionary of Biography online:

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nangar-33736

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ooloogan-33760

This podcast series was developed from work done through the Beyond Reconciliation project in the School of History at ANU, as part of the Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge (2021–2024). This was one of five ‘Grand Challenges’ mounted by the ANU with the aim to invest in transformative research to impact on the world’s most intractable problems.

The Beyond Reconciliation project was a response to the demand for a thorough-going process of truth-telling about Australia’s past. The central idea of the project was to support capacity building to pursue history-making and truth-telling in local Indigenous communities. The challenge was to work in different ways with different communities to model pathways to ‘telling the true stories they want to tell in the ways they want to tell them’. 

For more information on the Beyond Reconciliation project see:

https://history.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/acih/highlights/beyond-reconciliation-grand-challenge

The podcast series Resurgence: talking about First Nations’ Community-led Historical Practice was produced by Robyn McKenzie, for the Australian Centre for Indigenous History (ACIH) in the School of History at the Australian National University. Sound editing and composition by Emma Hoy of Signal Creative. This Podcast series has been supported by funding from the Australian National University’s Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.