Remote Indigenous Archival Fellowship

The IRCA / NFSA / AIATSIS Indigenous Remote Archival Fellowship 2015-16

The Indigenous Remote Archival Fellowship program was offered for the first time in 2015 as an initiative of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) in collaboration with the Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA). In 2016, the Fellowship was supported by both the NFSA and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) again in collaboration with IRCA. The Fellowship has included a mix of visits to NFSA and AIATSIS as well as mentoring and skills training. 

The fellowship was open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archivists and organisations in remote Australia who are developing strategies and structures to archive and preserve cultural heritage materials, particularly in audiovisual formats. The program broadly aims to:

• develop remote workers and their skills in relevant archival and preservation processes;

• assist in organisational development;

• build archival and preservation expertise in remote areas; and

• strengthen organisational links between IRCA, NFSA, AIATSIS and the successful organisation.

Outcomes of the fellowship include:

• understanding of a set of appropriate digital and archiving tasks and processes which can be put into practice in community archives, primarily around assessment, basic digitisation and basic metadata (determined by a needs-based assessment);

• stronger relationships between organisations;

• broader and stronger archiving skills in remote areas;

• skills and career development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community archives workers; and

• assistance for communities to access locally relevant content stored by major institutions.

 

Recipients of the Fellowship 

• 2015 Shaun Angeles, Strehlow Research Centre (Alice Springs), Sherika Nulgit, Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre (Derby, WA)
• 2016 PY Media