
About
Following the Trade Routes is a cultural governance and research project establised by the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC) seeking to create new understanding of cultural economies and trade routes that shaped Aboriginal societies across Australia, and to explore how such knowledge informs society and Indigenous cultural practice today.
Videos
The cultural practice aspects of the Following the Trade Routes centre on facilitating new and rejuvenated connections and practices of Aboriginal cultural trade between people and communities in the Kimberley region, Central Australia and South Australia, including trade of material and ceremonial items, songs and ceremonies, as well as knowledge and modes of cultural governance. A network of Aboriginal cultural practitioners, community and academic researchers has been formed by KALACC to support this work.
The research component of the project is seeking to document the new and rejuvenated processes of cultural trade occurring in the project, and connect Aboriginal cultural practitioners with existing research and archival knowledge to inform their practice.
Three core research questions have been posed by Aboriginal custodians to direct the research agenda of this project:
- How have historic and contemporary processes of Indigenous cultural trade and exchange operated in the Kimberley and Desert regions?
- How can knowledge of historic and regional trade routes inform cultural practices for a new generation of Indigenous leaders and knowledge custodians in Australia?
- How can cross-cultural research networks and digital platforms be used to bring ancestral and archival knowledge together to enhance knowledge about Indigenous cultural trade and economies?
Workshops and events
Blog
Trade Routes Research Translation Workshop 2022 – videos of presentations
On May 4th and 5th 2022 the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies and the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre hosted a Research Translation Workshop Program as part of the Following the Trade Routes project. The workshop was convened…
Read MoreWomen’s curatorial trip to South Australia Museum – Following the Trade Routes Project
As part of building collaborations to shape the public storytelling of the Following the Trade Routes project the South Australia Museum played host to an exchange between Kimberley, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna women for a few days in June. It was…
Read MoreSeminar presentation about Sovereign Systems: Following the Trade Routes
Are you interested in learning more about the Following the Trade Routes Project? You can watch a presentation on the project by Wayne Jowandi Barker, KALACC Festivals Coordinator and Cultural Programs Director; Karl Hampton, Yuendumu Community, Regional Director and Steve…
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