NSW Australia Mukurtu Hub

Start year: 2024

Summary: This project relates to developing the 'NSW Australian Mukurtu Hub - Sustaining Collaborative Curation Training, Support, and Networks through Mukurtu CMS' initiative at UTS, in partnership with Washington State University (WSU). Mukurtu (MOOK-oo-too) is a Content Management System (CMS) and grassroots project that empowers Indigenous communities to manage, share, narrate, and exchange their digital heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways. As the first Mukurtu Hub outside the USA, the NSW Australian Mukurtu Hub at UTS will aim to increase awareness and use of the Mukurtu CMS and undertake training in Australia. The project will aim to expand the network of Mukurtu trainers to support collaborative curation between Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous repositories and institutions. Through engagement with industry partners, including the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the network of Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) institutions and Indigenous community networks, the project will increase awareness in all aspects of collaborative curation with an emphasis on digital return, enhancing and exchanging metadata, and using Mukurtu CMS to facilitate the ethical sharing of content and metadata. A key focus for the Jumbunna Research team is advancing Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty by supporting Indigenous Data Stewardship through Indigenous Living Archives on Country.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.