Blogs

Decomposing 16mm Magnetic soundtrack showing severe edge curl which prevents the Mag being digitised.

Preserving materials in the AIATSIS Collection

You may or may not have heard about the 1973 TV pilot ‘Spinifex Breed – Marra Marra”. But thanks to the conservation team at AIATSIS, the film will now be available for future generations.

image of a colour woodblock (木版画, mokuhanga) print on mulberry paper. Sugoroku is a traditional Japanese children’s dice-based board game.

Rare and unique 19th century Japanese items in the AIATSIS Collection

Rita Metzenrath

There are several items of Japanese origin held in the AIATSIS Collection including two from the 19th century.

Reuniting a collection of Brinja community material

Cathy Zdanowicz

An extraordinary collection of drawings, sketches, maps and diagrams was uncovered in one of our vaults during a sorting process.

Aboriginal English

Sharon Davis

Over the years, many Indigenous people have been forced to speak Standard Australian English (AusE) at the expense of ancestral language, Kriol, or Aboriginal English (AbE).

IRX - Nyomba Gaṉḏaŋu, Nyomba Gaṉḏaŋu, Yolŋu and CDU

IRX grantees at the Summit

The 2021 AIATSIS Summit held on Kaurna Country was an opportunity for researchers, Prescribed Body Corporate’s and communities alike to share their experiences and knowledge with others.

Vale Ian Dunlop

Tom Eccles

Ian Dunlop was commissioned by the AIAS (Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, the former name of AIATSIS) to create a range of original film material through its film unit which operated from 1962 to 1988.

Jon Altman collection grows

Kylie Moloney, Jeni Wie

The Jon Altman manuscript collection is one of the most significant and extensive collections held at AIATSIS. Collections staff recently worked with Jon to transfer his third instalment of documents to AIATSIS.

The right to water

Mia Stone, Lilli Ireland

The importance of land to Indigenous people has long been recognised in reconciliation efforts, but the cultural, social, spiritual and economic significance of water has received somewhat less attention.

Indigenous languages in Australian parliaments

Jacqueline Battin

In 2016, Malcom Turnbull made history by being the first prime minister to speak an Australian Indigenous language in a parliamentary speech.

Ocean Guardian, Brian Robinson, - Ngulla Wellamunagaa

Ocean Guardian – Malu Yawa Garka

Charlotte Lembit

Ocean Guardian' (2017), a cast aluminium stingray by Brian Robinson, relays the creation story of the Great Barrier Reef ‘Gunya and the Sacred Fish story’ as told by Gimuy Walabura Yidinji elder Gudju Gudju (Seith) Fourmile in David Attenborough’s documentary Great Barrier Reef (2015).