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.