Japan - Zenadth Kes Project

This collaborative project aims to document, translate and make accessible a major body of archival research about Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait). The research was created by Japanese researchers almost 50 years ago when teams of Japanese researchers made multiple visits to Zenadth Kes. The researchers documented community life and produced a large 700 book in Japanese with chapters about every community. The team also took thousands of photographs, made hundreds of maps and recorded music.

Working with Zenadth Kes Elders and families, surviving Japanese researchers and academic colleagues and cultural institutions in Japan and Australia, the project will produce accessible and visually exciting resources for communities, cultural institutions and the wider public. Outputs will include a translated and edited book, multimedia digital storytelling, a short film and photographic exhibitions.

Project Team:

Julie Lahn, Annick Thomassin, Samantha Faulkner, Jacinta Baragud, all based at the ANU Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies
ANU School of Music Sound Producer Will Kepa
Five Community Based Researchers in Zenadth Kes

Project Collaboration:

Project Funding:

Australia Japan Foundation (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
Return of Cultural Heritage Unit (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Australian Research Council Discovery Project

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