Book Launch - The Indigenous Right of Reply to Archives

Join us to launch a critical new work, The Indigenous Right of Reply to Archives, with a panel featuring editors and contributors, Dr Kirsten Thorpe, Rebecca Bateman, Dr Narissa Timbery, Dr Monica Galassi and Nathan mudyi Sentance from the Indigenous Archives Collective.

Panellists will discuss the book and the work they have done to decolonise, Indigenise and disrupt GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums). Tackling a core question: How can Indigenous communities exercise sovereignty over their knowledge held in colonial archives? The panel will delve into the book's exploration of the Right of Reply - the right to update, correct, and reclaim narratives through real-world case studies, policy critiques, and innovative strategies from Australia, Aotearoa, and the United States.

Light refreshments will be provided

Praise for the book:

"An essential guide for anyone committed to meaningful reconciliation." – Laura McBride, Director, First Nations, Australian Museum

"A how-to guide on putting decolonial principles into practice." – Michelle Caswell, Professor, UCLA

Free Event. All welcome. – registration essential.

About the Indigenous Archives Collective
The Collective is a group of researchers and practitioners – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous – formed to encourage discussion about Indigenous archives. https://indigenousarchives.net/

About the panellists

Dr Kirsten Thorpe (Worimi) is a Senior Researcher at UTS, leading work on Indigenous data sovereignty and archives. Her research focuses on decolonising practices, Indigenous protocols, and community-led archive management. She completed her PhD in 2022 on Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty in archival engagement.

Rebecca Bateman is a Weilwan and Gamilaroi woman with family from Warren in North West NSW and connections to the Gunnedah region of NSW and Charleville in QLD.

She is the Director Indigenous Engagement at the National Library of Australia where the Indigenous Engagement Team at are working to transform the way in which the National Library engages with First Nations people to tell First Nations stories. Rebecca is privileged to have been entrusted with leading that change.

Rebecca is passionate about the rights of First Nations people to speak for their culture and have agency over the records that document it - she advocates for the restoration of cultural authority in all that she does.

Dr Narissa Timbery is a Koori woman from the Yuin Nation, is a lecturer at Monash University and a researcher on Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Living Archives on Country Project. A trained archivist, her work focuses on community-led care of Indigenous records and returning archival materials based on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols.

Dr Monica Galassi is a Research Fellow at Jumbunna Research and an Italian anthropologist whose work supports Aboriginal self-determination in archives. Her research focuses on cultural heritage access, social justice, and Aboriginal-led digital archiving. She is completed a PhD on Aboriginal archival records held in Italy.

Nathan mudyi Sentance is a cis Wiradjuri librarian and writer who works at the Powerhouse Museum as Head of Collections, First Nations and writes about critical history and critical librarianship. His writing has been previously published in the Guardian, British Art Studies, Cordite Poetry, and Sydney Review of Books and Meanjin. He was the winner of the 2024 Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poetry Prize