Meningie Lake, Ngarrindjeri country (Source: Cressida Fforde)

Professional Development Short Course

• Online and In-Person
• 5-day intensive
• 27 - 31 October 2025

Primarily taught by Indigenous experts, this professional development without assessment short course on theoretical and practical issues relating to Indigenous collections and exhibitions.

The professional development course helps participants develop a critical understanding of the creation, function, histories, politics and contemporary meanings of objects; the representation of cultures in museum displays and other public venues; shifting relations between source communities and museums and issues of meaning, interpretation, and representation.

The emphasis is on collections and exhibitions relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that are held or displayed in Australia or overseas, but specific attention is also given to other First Nations cultural heritage removed in colonial contexts, for example from New Zealand, Africa, and the Americas. Issues examined during the course include the history of collecting and exhibitions, community representation, ownership and intellectual property, repatriation, negotiation, preservation, and modes of display.

Topics
o    Indigenous Representation in Cultural Institutions – key issues, future directions
o    Agency and history
o    Powerful objects, emotion, and new directions
o    International Examples and change momentum
o    Agents of change – repatriation and other influences
o    Object case studies.

Course Fees
Professional development fees: $3,000 (Without Assessment)

Grants are available to assist with fees for Indigenous participants without organisational support. Discounts are available for organisations funding more than two participants.

Course Delivery
This course will be delivered via Zoom and in-person.

Course Convener
Dr Jilda Andrews

Contact
For further information please contact: Shane Bawden shane.bawden@anu.edu.au