Oceans of heritage: connections, interruptions and continuities
This panel will explore how heritage is practiced, interrupted and regained from various views across the Indian Ocean. These talks will contest dominant narratives about Australia’s geographical and cultural isolation through exploring connections, disconnections and reconnections across the Indian Ocean.
Wajarri Nyarlu/Menang heritage expert Patricia Ryder discusses the pre colonial heritage and boundaries of the Dutch in the Murchison region through their interactions with Yamatji people.
Geographer and heritage scholar Tod Jones will talk about how changing attitudes to borders and populations disrupted Aboriginal and Australian heritage connections to Indonesia. He will reflect on three ways to think about heritage that reveal the dynamics and politics of how different groups and organisations care for precious things.
Media scholar Thor Kerr discusses Indonesian and Aboriginal contributions in heritages of telecommunication stations connecting Australia to the world overseas. How have the stations and their staff been remembered? What has been lost from public memory and what might be found?
About the speakers
Wajarri Nyarlu/Menang yorga Patricia Ryder is a Community Engagement Facilitator (Education) at the John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University, where she contributes to an innovative program of local, national, and international exhibitions including her work with the Carrolup Art Collection. She brings expertise in cultural heritage and community engagement drawn from diverse roles across museum, government, and educational settings.
Tod Jones is Associate Professor in Geography in Curtin University’s School of Design and Built Environment. His current research brings together cultural and political geography with heritage concepts and frameworks, applying them to heritage management, sustainable tourism, and cultural landscapes. He has worked with Aboriginal communities across Western Australia, as well as heritage groups in Java and Sumatra, Indonesia. His books include Heritage movements in Asia (with Ali Mozaffari, Berghahn, 2020) and most recently Heritage is Movement: Heritage management and research in a diverse and plural world(Routledge, 2023).
Thor Kerr is a Senior Lecturer in Curtin University’s School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry. He is also Curtin’s Dean Global, ASEAN. Thor investigates representations of infrastructural change and communities on the eastern rim of the Indian Ocean. His books include To the Beach (2015) and Setting up the Nyoongar Tent Embassy (2013); his edited volumes include Indian Ocean Futures (2016). Dr Kerr’s articles have been published in Somatechnics, Media International Australia, Continuum Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Heritage, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, Thesis Eleven, Coolabah, Journal of Historical Geography and other academic journals. Before becoming an academic, Thor worked in journalism in Jakarta and in media management across Southeast Asia.
Event Details
Wednesday 29 April 2026
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Free event, open to the public
Light refreshments provided.
The JCG Lunchtime Talks is a mid-week series that invites speakers from diverse disciplines to share their research, practices, and perspectives in response to the gallery’s exhibition programming. These informal sessions offer a welcoming, collegial space to explore ideas, spark dialogue, and engage with the themes and questions shaping contemporary visual culture and artistic practice.
Photography
This event will be photographed and/or videoed and images will occasionally be used for promotional and marketing purposes, including social media. If you do not wish to be photographed or videoed, please notify staff at event registration.
Accessibility Everyone is welcome at the John Curtin Gallery. Plan your visit to the John Curtin Gallery.
Image: Photo of Abdi Karya and Nebbie Burrarwanga holding hands as part of their performance at the opening Perth Festival 2026 opening event at John Curtin Gallery. Photo by Marnie Richardson.
