Museum Talks: Weaving Histories into Futures

Join curator, Dr Maia Nuku, for a talk on ‘Weaving histories into futures' at Melbourne Museum.

Dr Nuku shares insights into the overhaul and construction of new galleries for the Arts of Oceania at The Metropolitan Museum in New York, a 10-year project that culminated in a suite of galleries offering international visitors perspectives on art that reach deep into Oceania’s past, while acknowledging ongoing manifestations of its agency in the present.

The project gave Dr Nuku a unique opportunity to reframe the galleries conceptually; to emphasise connectivity in the context of global and local histories; and elevate the equally critical arts of storytelling, oratory, and performance alongside Oceania’s dynamic visual arts.

Jade Hadfield, Curator of First Nations Pasifika Collections, Museums Victoria, joins Dr Nuku to discuss what the role and relevancy museums hold in the 21st century, and whether museums can be living, expansive archives of Indigenous knowledge.