Amplifying Indigenous Australian Voices in the Conservation and Management of Rock Art

Abstract

Rock art is internationally recognised as a tangible connection to cultures past, whose conservation, and management programmes should be developed accordingly. When these heritage places are located within living cultural landscapes and are part of the continuing culture of First Nations people as they are in Australia, there is a fundamental requirement for programmes to be owned and implemented by the relevant communities. However, giving primacy to the voices of those with cultural authority and agency does not always amplify these efforts. To address this challenge, Traditional Owners came together, supported by a land management agency and researchers, to stage a rock art forum for Indigenous Australians in early 2023. This ground-breaking initiative is significant, because the first manual on conserving and managing rock art that gives primacy to the worldviews of Australia’s First Peoples will be an output from the forum. Past Australian publications om this subject have been authored by non-Indigenous scholars and practitioners who considered only an international framework for conserving and managing rock art as a cultural treasure. This paper considers discussions from the forum and the developing manual as shared stories of resilience to manage, protect and celebrate rock art through Indigenous-led initiatives to inform the present and prepare us for future advances in the discipline.

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