The Transcultural Heritage of Northwest Australia: Dynamics and Resistances
Natural and cultural values align diverse actors in collective responses to ecological transformations. The research group studies these alliances that are formed by (among others) environmentalists and local community members, tourist and travellers, politics and media, to present new insights into how transcultural heritage, reconciliation and sustainable development might be conceived of differently, namely as ecological projects of biocultural hope that take Indigenous knowledge seriously.
One focus is the Kimberley region, commonly known as a unique tourist destination and Australia’s ‘last frontier’. Apart from its magnificent scenery, a Creolization process brought forth by Aboriginal, European and Southeast Asian migration spans back to the late 19th century. This transcultural heritage is put under significant pressure due to large-scale industrialisation proposals for coal, iron-ore, uranium and bauxite mining, but also shale gas, extracted throughout the Kimberley with use of the controversial technology of fracking.
Resulting conflicts between diverse actors (scientists, politicians, NGOs, parts of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population, and the resource industry) have generated new ‘cosmopolitical’ engagements with its environment – its land and sea. In light of the predicament of the anthropocene, what are their alternative models for a common multispecies future?
Individual Projects:
Dreamings, Songlines and the "Cult of Heritage"
Knowing the Kimberley Rock Art
The Culture of Pearling in the North-West Kimberley
Art, Culture and Religion at Beagle Bay in Historical Perspective
The Broome Pearling Industry and the White Australia Policy
Collecting Aboriginal Culture in the 19th and 20th Century
Participants of the international workshop Digitising Heritage, hosted by the research group in October 2019 [more info]
26 July 2017 - Radical Hope: Inspiring Sustainability Transformations through our Past (SeeingTheWoods)
Mai 2017 - Beitrag zum ersten Workshop der AG Umweltethnologie: Key Debates in Environmental Anthropology (DGV-Mitteilungen)
07 October 2016 - Ant meets ANT: A gathering on 'media ecologies' (AntSpiderBee)
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