The role of Queensland Museum collections in producing knowledge of Aboriginal people from Federation to the present day. The project will investigate the production of knowledge about Aboriginal peoples by the Queensland Museum since the late nineteenth century. The focus will be on the changing role of material culture collections in the construal of Aboriginality. The APAI will analyse material culture collection in the context of nation building and will investigate both the changing meaning ....The role of Queensland Museum collections in producing knowledge of Aboriginal people from Federation to the present day. The project will investigate the production of knowledge about Aboriginal peoples by the Queensland Museum since the late nineteenth century. The focus will be on the changing role of material culture collections in the construal of Aboriginality. The APAI will analyse material culture collection in the context of nation building and will investigate both the changing meanings and the contemporary relevance of such collections to Aboriginal communities. The project will produce a body of research that can be used in the design of new exhibitions that will reveal the true complexity of cross-cultural interactions in the development of the Museum's collections.Read moreRead less
Unsettling Histories: Australian Indigenous Modes of Historical Practice. This investigation of indigenous Australian historical practices seeks to find fresh perspectives and constructive methods of collaboration and historical innovation. By extending Nabokov's work on American Indian ?ways of history?, this trans-national project explores multi-dimensional and -sensory modes of historical delivery. These include visual, musical, material culture, museum and 'traveling through country' mediums ....Unsettling Histories: Australian Indigenous Modes of Historical Practice. This investigation of indigenous Australian historical practices seeks to find fresh perspectives and constructive methods of collaboration and historical innovation. By extending Nabokov's work on American Indian ?ways of history?, this trans-national project explores multi-dimensional and -sensory modes of historical delivery. These include visual, musical, material culture, museum and 'traveling through country' mediums. Outcomes include a major book, exhibition briefs and collections papers, significant historical exchange meetings, content for a television series and website. Collaborative research between academic and community-based experts and performers will provide new understandings of indigenous history and signal future directions for rethinking historical practices.Read moreRead less
Blackfella Historians: An Historical Study of Aboriginal History-Making in South-eastern Australia. Aboriginal people had not only to endure colonisation, but to make sense of it. This innovative study examines their deployment of history, focusing on south-eastern Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It will explore the importance of history in the efforts made by Aborigines to explain their plight to non-Aborigines and to make sense of it for themselves. The project will offer ....Blackfella Historians: An Historical Study of Aboriginal History-Making in South-eastern Australia. Aboriginal people had not only to endure colonisation, but to make sense of it. This innovative study examines their deployment of history, focusing on south-eastern Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It will explore the importance of history in the efforts made by Aborigines to explain their plight to non-Aborigines and to make sense of it for themselves. The project will offer major new insights into the role of history in shaping relations between Aborigines and non-Aborigines and will also enrich our understanding of history's political and cultural uses and its significance as a medium for cross-cultural communication.Read moreRead less
Confronting Representations: Performing Indigenous Protests. By using performance studies approaches to analyse public political events this work will provide the practical benefit of increasing our understanding of how different cultures interpret and misinterpret each other in public encounters. Examining the dynamics that have and continue to operate between people and social discourses increases our understanding of ourselves as Australians and our ability to interpret ourselves. A further b ....Confronting Representations: Performing Indigenous Protests. By using performance studies approaches to analyse public political events this work will provide the practical benefit of increasing our understanding of how different cultures interpret and misinterpret each other in public encounters. Examining the dynamics that have and continue to operate between people and social discourses increases our understanding of ourselves as Australians and our ability to interpret ourselves. A further benefit is that the project develops an innovative methodology for interdisciplinary research drawing from the fields of performance studies, media studies and cultural studies.Read moreRead less
Intercultural inquiry in a trans-national context: Exploring the legacy of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. In terms of National Research Priorities, the project will encourage cultural health and cohesiveness in Arnhem Land by providing access to cultural property held until now in remote archives. It will enhance understanding of our region and the world by studying cross-cultural interactions within Australia. Furthermore, it will illuminate how Aboriginal te ....Intercultural inquiry in a trans-national context: Exploring the legacy of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. In terms of National Research Priorities, the project will encourage cultural health and cohesiveness in Arnhem Land by providing access to cultural property held until now in remote archives. It will enhance understanding of our region and the world by studying cross-cultural interactions within Australia. Furthermore, it will illuminate how Aboriginal territory and knowledge were used to shore up the Australia-US relationship at a formative historical moment.Read moreRead less
Expedition to Arnhem Land: Intercultural inquiry in a trans-national context. In terms of National Research Priorities, the project will encourage cultural health and cohesiveness in Arnhem Land by providing access to cultural property held until now in remote archives. It will enhance understanding of our region and the world by studying cross-cultural interactions within Australia. Furthermore, it will illuminate how Aboriginal territory and knowledge were used to shore up the Australia-US rel ....Expedition to Arnhem Land: Intercultural inquiry in a trans-national context. In terms of National Research Priorities, the project will encourage cultural health and cohesiveness in Arnhem Land by providing access to cultural property held until now in remote archives. It will enhance understanding of our region and the world by studying cross-cultural interactions within Australia. Furthermore, it will illuminate how Aboriginal territory and knowledge were used to shore up the Australia-US relationship at a formative historical moment.Read moreRead less
Indigenous Life Narratives and Racial Reconciliation in Australia and South Africa. The project studies the relationship between indigenous storytelling (life narratives, storytelling, testimony)and political campaigns for human rights and racial reconciliation in South Africa and Australia. It analyses the contexts of production, dissemination and consumption of these stories and their effects on indigenous and non-indigenous tellers and listeners within and beyond the respective nations, inclu ....Indigenous Life Narratives and Racial Reconciliation in Australia and South Africa. The project studies the relationship between indigenous storytelling (life narratives, storytelling, testimony)and political campaigns for human rights and racial reconciliation in South Africa and Australia. It analyses the contexts of production, dissemination and consumption of these stories and their effects on indigenous and non-indigenous tellers and listeners within and beyond the respective nations, including the emergence of new national literatures, indigenous identities, discourses on ethics, responsibility and racial reconciliation within and beyond the nations. The study offers a significant theoretical and methodological advance within the emerging field of critical global studies and the changing formations of nationhood.Read moreRead less
Warlpiri songlines: anthropological, linguistic and Indigenous perspectives. This partnership combines anthropologists, linguists, Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous bicultural linguists to record, document and analyse Warlpiri song series. Warlpiri songs link ancestral power, landscape, emotions and aesthetics and are central to religious life. Because the diversity of performance contexts in which these songs are learnt is rapidly reducing, this aspect of Warlpiri high culture is unde ....Warlpiri songlines: anthropological, linguistic and Indigenous perspectives. This partnership combines anthropologists, linguists, Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous bicultural linguists to record, document and analyse Warlpiri song series. Warlpiri songs link ancestral power, landscape, emotions and aesthetics and are central to religious life. Because the diversity of performance contexts in which these songs are learnt is rapidly reducing, this aspect of Warlpiri high culture is under threat. This project will create a cultural archive informed by Indigenous exegesis, that integrates it into the world of anthropological and lingusitic scholarship and provides materials for the school curriculum.Read moreRead less
Four South Pacific Museums: New Museums and Public Culture. The last decade has witnessed a global explosion in the development of new museums. Nowhere is this more striking than in our region where four major new museum buildings opened between 1998 and 2001.
FOUR SOUTH PACIFIC MUSEUMS will explore these regional developments by asking:
-How are they renovating their institutions through exhibitionary, architectural, technological, commercial and entertainment strategies?
-How are they re-n ....Four South Pacific Museums: New Museums and Public Culture. The last decade has witnessed a global explosion in the development of new museums. Nowhere is this more striking than in our region where four major new museum buildings opened between 1998 and 2001.
FOUR SOUTH PACIFIC MUSEUMS will explore these regional developments by asking:
-How are they renovating their institutions through exhibitionary, architectural, technological, commercial and entertainment strategies?
-How are they re-negotiating relationships between indigenous people and museums in post-colonial nations?
This interdisciplinary project will generate significant publications, evaluate contemporary museum practices, enrich debate about the cultural and civic roles of museums, and contribute productively to imagining their future.
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The reinvention of Indigenous media: Innovation, expansion and social development. Detailed examination of Remote Indigenous Media Organisations will provide much-needed evidence of the role that community media organisations play in communications uptake and use in remote communities. The success of RIMOs further suggests that investigation at the organisational level may yield lessons for social development more broadly. Content analysis will identify gaps and achievements in Indigenous media ....The reinvention of Indigenous media: Innovation, expansion and social development. Detailed examination of Remote Indigenous Media Organisations will provide much-needed evidence of the role that community media organisations play in communications uptake and use in remote communities. The success of RIMOs further suggests that investigation at the organisational level may yield lessons for social development more broadly. Content analysis will identify gaps and achievements in Indigenous media production, providing a deeper understanding of how local media interacts with and informs national textual systems. The project will also analyse communications innovations occurring in remote communities and assess the possibilities for Indigenous industry development.Read moreRead less