IBES-Wadeye IPTV: Delivering significant and at risk audiovisual archives to remote Aboriginal Communities via IPTV and the NBN (2015-2016)
Project Details
This information produced from this project is of great research value, with particular benefit to projects investigating language acquisition in Murrinhpatha (the lingua franca of Wadeye and the surrounding Thamarrurr region) and in the safeguarding of local endangered languages. Much of the Indigenous knowledge held within this archive, such as preparation of bush foods, is retained by only a handful of living peoples, and is thereby invaluable. The project aimed to support the growth of culturally meaningful jobs in the Wadeye community, advancing the capacity of the Museum to continue its work in digital preservation through the training and development of skilled Indigenous archive workers – priority areas identified by the Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA) (2014, p.11).
This project was conducted in the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye in the Northern Territory, developed in partnership with the Kanamkek-Yile Ngala Museum and the Thamarrurr Regional Authority Aboriginal Corporation (TRAAC). The project focused on the audiovisual collection of the Museum, a vast collection of analogue and digital materials of high cultural significance to the Wadeye community. This project was developed in response to issues that were raised in a wider ARC Indigenous Discovery grant (IN130100007) - ‘Local Aboriginal community archives: The use of information technology and the National Broadband Network in disaster preparedness and recovery’. The researchers and partner investigators in this project examined the social and technological practices of the Wadeye Aboriginal community members in protecting intangible cultural heritage and their prioritisation of preservation requirements. A key element of the project was the development of an audiovisual delivery platform that was trialled in the community, providing access to the archive for the people of Wadeye and inviting them to contribute their knowledge of the people, languages and events recorded.
Researchers
Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker (Indigenous Studies Unit & Grimwade Centre for the Cultural Materials Conservations (SHAPS))
Dr Sharon Huebner
Professor Robyn Sloggett (Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation)
Mr Caden Pearson (Indigenous Studies Unit)
Collaborators/Partners
Professor Robyn Sloggett (Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation)
Funding
Melbourne Networked Society Institute (MNSI) Seed Funding Grant - Past
Research Outcomes
Ormond-Parker, L., Langton, M., Huebner, S., Coleman, J., Pearson, C., Sloggett, R., Nordlinger, R., Smith, K. and Clarke, K. (2016) 'When Magnets Collide: Digital Preservation and Access of At-Risk Audiovisual Archives in a Remote Aboriginal Community'