Past Event
Date
Friday, 8 Aug 2025 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM ACST
Title
Art. Knowledge. Data. Digital cataloguing and repatriation of historical art collections
Art. Knowledge. Data. 2025
The ‘Art. Knowledge. Data.’ Symposium was a co-located event with the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2025. It explored the complex and dynamic relationships between Indigenous art, cultural collections, and digital data. Drawing on insights from anthropology, art history, Indigenous knowledge systems and data science, the event considered how best to protect, preserve, access, share and enliven Indigenous data through digital means.
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Mary Williams of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporate and Gillian Moody, Head of First Nations Engagement, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. -
Dr Nick Car (Australian National University), Dr. Jilda Andrews (Australian National University), Michael Aird (University of Queensland), Prof Howard Morphy ((University of Queensland). -
Michael Mungula, Senior Elder, painter and singer, director Milingimbi Art and Culture, Arnhem Land, NT. -
Pedro Wonaeamirri (Jilamara Arts and Crafts, senior cultural leader in Milikapiti) and Michael Mungula (Milingimbi Art and Culture). -
Dr Jessica De Largy Healy (Université Paris Nanterre, The University of Melbourne) and Dr Andrea Clarke (University of Melbourne). -
Pedro Wonaeamirri (Jilamara Arts and Crafts, senior cultural leader in Milikapiti) and Colin Puruntatameri ( Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association, Arnhem, Northern and Kimberley Artists). -
Dr Jacqueline Healy (University of Melbourne) and Prof Gaye Sculthorpe (Deakin University). -
Mary Williams (Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporate) and Prof Marcia Langton AO. -
Attendees at Art Knowledge Data 2025 in Darwin. -
Attendees at the Art Knowledge Data Symposium 2025 in Darwin. -
Attendees at the Art Knowledge Data Symposium 2025 in Darwin. -
Judith Ryan AO (University of Melbourne) and Rebecca Hossack (Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London). -
Harriet Watts (Milingimbi Art and Culture) and Louise Murray (University of Melbourne).
Location
Darwin Convention Centre (meeting rooms 3 & 4)
10 Stokes Hill Road Darwin City, NT 0800
Description
The ‘Art. Knowledge. Data.’ Symposium was a co-located event held with the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2025. It explored the complex and dynamic relationships between Indigenous art, cultural collections, and digital data. Drawing on insights from anthropology, art history, Indigenous knowledge systems and data science, the event will consider how best to protect, preserve, access, share and enliven Indigenous data through digital means.
Discussions focussed on the diverse types of knowledge embedded in cultural objects and how these intersect with principles of Indigenous data governance and sovereignty. Participants examined strategies for advocating for Indigenous knowledge rights in museum and gallery collections and considered the ethical and practical challenges associated with digitisation and data sharing.
The Symposium also addressed critical concerns such as the protection of culturally restricted information, the retention of copyright by Indigenous artists, the payment of appropriate copyright fees, and the need for museums to open their collections to communities in culturally appropriate ways, guided by respectful and inclusive protocols. The importance of recognising and upholding Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights was also a central focus.
This event forms part of the Living Legacies International Research Project (CNRS) and the Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities Project (Indigenous Data Network, University of Melbourne), funded by the Australian Research Data Commons.
Program and speakers:
Please click here to view the program for the event.
Photo description:
Michael Mungula is holding a painting by his father Djäwa, part of the musée du quai Branly Karel Kupka collection. It is a screenshot from a filmed interview Dr Jessica De Largy Healy conducted with Michael in 2024 at Rapuma, on Walamangu country, the location of the painting.
Sponsored by:
Improving Indigenous Research Capabilities Project 2021-2028 (ARDC)
CNRS International Research Project 2025–2029 (Lesc CNRS–Université Paris Nanterre)
In partnership with:
The University of Melbourne
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
With collaborators:
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
Milingimbi Art and Culture
