Cultural Heritage Studies

Her research interest are currently focussed on documenting, describing and reviving Indigenous languages. She has a new focus on the Indigenous languages of Pakistan, including Saraiki of the Punjab and Torwali of Swat. She has two Australian Research Council Discovery Projects one with Prof John Maynard on the history of Aboriginal missions and reserves in eastern Australia and the history of Aboriginal people who were not institutionalised. The other DP is about the practise of ‘corroboree’ by Aboriginal people in the ‘assimilation period’ of the mid C20 in Australia. She is interested in the use of Indigenous research methodologies and and community engaged research practises. She is Aboriginal Australian and her community is Ngarigu of the Snowy Mountains in south eastern Australia. Jakelin has worked closely with members of CAS such as Prof. Adone.

Professionally focused on the management of natural and cultural heritage including the protection of cultural and intellectual property, Liz is also a collected artist, see Liz McNiven, Badyidi (Budjiti) people – Spirit Dreaming – Search the Collection, National Gallery (nga.gov.au) and a published writer, see Titles curated by Liz McNiven on ASO – Australia’s audio and visual heritage online.

In her youth she completed a Cultural Resource Management Skills Development Program in the Film Archive of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, complemented by a Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Communication, at the University of Canberra.

With a career spanning thirty years, Liz worked across leading Australian national and State based cultural and natural resource management institutions with roles including Art Consultant & Project Coordinator, National Gallery of Australia;  Program Director, Museum Victoria; Senior Curator and Branch Manager, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia; Senior Land Rights Officer, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council; Senior Natural Resource Officer, New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation; and Senior Policy Officer and Assistant Program Director at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. Now, as a BAC director, she is applying her skills and knowledge to support the BAC in managing native title rights and interests over Budjiti lands, waters, and natural resources and in asserting cultural authority over tangible and intangible dimensions of Budjiti heritage.

Liz is collaborating closely with Professor Adone and team.

(Photograph: (c) Romain Morton)

Dr Michael Pickering has worked extensively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organizations, State and Territory Heritage Agencies, and museums across Australia. Dr Pickering moved to the National Museum of Australia as the Director of the Repatriation Program in 2001, later taking on the role of Head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program, from 2004 to 2011. He then moved to the Research Centre. From 2013 to 2014 he was the Acting Head of the Australian Society and History Program. In 2015 he took up the position as Head of Research Centre. From 2018 to 2022 he has been the Senior Repatriation Advisor at the National Museum of Australia.

Dr Pickering is an Honorary Associate Professor with the Department of Museum and Heritage Studies at the Australian National University, an Honorary Professor with the Global Station for Indigenous Studies and Cultural Diversity, Hokkaido University, Japan, and a Partner with the Centre for Australian Studies, Cologne University, Germany. Dr. Pickering is collaborating closely with Prof. Adone and team.

Dr Pickering is on the editorial boards of the journals ‘Museum Management and Curatorship’ and ‘Museums and Social Issues’.  He is an ‘Expert Examiner’ under the Australian Protection of Moveable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.

He has a wide range of research interests and has published articles on topics ranging from material culture, cannibalism, settlement patterns, museum exhibitions, museum ethics, workplace health and safety, and repatriation.

Research Field(s)

Repatriation, Cannibalism, museum management of Indigenous cultural heritage, Hunter-gatherer settlement patterns.