Sites, collections, archives, and society: Colonial heritage in the Pacific

Workshop organised at the University of Sydney|19-20 June 2025

This workshop brings together scholars from around the Pacific to discuss the meanings, values, and role of colonial heritage in pasts, presents, and futures around the region. Heritage in this case is defined broadly, to include the sites in the islands where colonial encounters took place; collections of material culture, both those still in the region and those carried overseas through various processes; archives and documentary sources capturing both European and Islander perspectives; and society more broadly in the legacies that endure in the region and continue to be accommodated as well as struggled against in the present. Perspectives don’t come from any one discipline, but bring together the concepts and methodologies from archaeology, historical studies, art, social work, and more. Above all, the goal is to emphasise the perspectives of Pacific scholars themselves, in order to understand how our point of view shifts when we look to the ideas and priorities of the people who live in and come from the Sea of Islands. Equally, for those of us whose kin and roots do not lie in the region, we interrogate the roles some scholars play (and importantly, shouldn’t or can’t play) as outsiders in terms of critically reflecting on people’s ability to contribute to the study of issues ranging from documentation, interpretation, repatriation, and restitution within the broad remit of colonial heritage.

In addition to formal talks from leading and emerging scholars working in the Pacific, the workshop will include ample space for open discussion. Of particular interest is the presence of scholars working on topics covering Melanesia (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), Polynesia (Tahiti, Aotearoa-New Zealand), and Micronesia (Marianas Islands), covering sub-regions of Oceania that have historically been, and in many ways continue to be siloed from each other, academically, politically, and otherwise. Diasporic voices, particularly of Pasifika Australians and New Zealanders, will also be brought into the mix as an important element of ongoing life in the region shaped by colonial legacies. There is also an opportunity to span the Anglophone-Francophone split in Pacific scholarship, with the inclusion of scholars and scholarship from French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

This workshop is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship awarded to James Flexner in Archaeology at the University of Sydney (FT210100244). It is hosted in partnership with the School of Humanities and the Vere Gordon Childe Centre.

TICKETS
Full workshop registrations are available, or select specific days/times to attend in person.
Please do not create duplicate registrations.

Image: courtesy of James Flexner

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