The National Museum of Australia has celebrated the graduation of six Indigenous Fellows from its 2019 Encounters Fellowship program.
National Museum Director, Dr Mathew Trinca said the “innovative” professional development program supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage practitioners.
“The program is an important initiative that provides Indigenous cultural practitioners with extraordinary professional development experiences and fosters two-way learning and exchange between the Fellows and staff at renowned cultural institutions in Australia, the United Kingdom and France,” Dr Trinca said.
“These individuals are all exceptional and we have high hopes that they will become leaders in their communities, share their knowledge with colleagues and peers, and implement innovative ideas that further the way Australia tells Indigenous stories.”
The 2019 Fellows – Naomi Appleby, Kyra Edwards, Harold Ludwig, John Morseau, Sherika Nulgit and Kyra Kum-Sing – each selected a community project to develop and deliver using the skills and knowledge they had gained from the program.
The intensive program began with an Australian residency at the National Museum of Australia along with placements and cultural study tours at Canberra institutions such as the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Film and Sound Archive, National Archives of Australia, Australian War Memorial, National Library of Australia and Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
Fellows also completed placements at cultural institutions in the United Kingdom and France including the British Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich, British Library, Pitt Rivers Museum, Horniman Museum, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge), the Princes Foundation School of Traditional Arts and in Paris, the Musee du qui Branly.
Dr Trinca said the Fellows will take their new knowledge, experience and connections back to their hometowns to share with colleagues, to lead their community in museum best practice and work to bring their selected project to life.
The 2019 graduates will join the 2016 graduates to form a network of Indigenous cultural practitioners the Museum will engage with over the course of their careers.