Re-Framing Indigenous Biography

The National Centre of Biography, in collaboration with our ARC Project 'An Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography', is hosting a conference on Indigenous biography.

The aim of our conference is to explore and re-think Indigenous biography, considering what aspects make it distinct, what issues and concerns need to be taken into account, how do we convey the voices and perspectives of Indigenous people in different ways, and how might we approach biography more creatively in the future. The ultimate aim of the conference is to discover new approaches and considerations when we produce approximately 190 new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander biographies for the Australian Dictionary of Biography over the next three years.

The keynote speakers are:

Alexis Wright (University of Melbourne)
Ashley Glassburn Falzetti (University of Windsor, Canada), and
Alice Te Punga Somerville (University of Waikato, New Zealand/Aotearoa).

Other confirmed speakers are Malcolm Allbrook (ANU), Odette Best (Southern Queensland), Tony Birch (Victoria), Kate Fullagar (Macquarie), Julie Gough (independent artist), Grace Karskens (UNSW), Shino Konishi (UWA), Arini Loader (Victoria University, Wellington), Michael McDonnell (Sydney), Margo Neale (National Museum of Australia), Alistair Paterson (UWA), and Katerina Teiwa (ANU).

The conference will also include an innovative Biography Slam, in which presenters offer innovative, concise biographical snapshots of Indigenous individuals, highlighting the diversity of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives and biographical practices.

Special Event:
The Conference will include a public lecture by keynote speaker Alice Te Punga Somerville at the National Portrait Gallery, followed by a cocktail reception, on Thursday 15 November, 5pm.

Registration fee: $170; $85 for one day

Participation: Maximum of 100 people

The conference is organised by Shino Konishi, Malcolm Allbrook and Tom Griffiths, and generously supported by the National Centre of Biography, the Australian Research Council and the College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU.

Conference Program

Program Day One: Thursday 15 November 2018
8.30-9.00am	Registration
9.00-10.30am	Welcome and Introduction Chair: Malcolm Allbrook Tyronne Bell: Welcome to Country Melanie Nolan: Welcome from the National Centre for Biography
	Keynote 1. Chair: Tom Griffiths Alexis Wright, ‘Alexis Wright speaks with Tom Griffiths about her biography, Tracker’
10.30-11.00am	Morning Tea
11.00-12.00pm	Session 1. Challenges Chair: Shino Konishi Michael A. McDonnell: ‘Re-Centring Native American History: The Opportunities—and Limits—of Biography in Eighteenth-Century North America’ Julie Gough: ‘The Missing: The lost Aboriginal children of Van Diemen’s Land’
12.00-1.00pm	Lunch
1.00-2.30pm	Session 2. Ways Chair: Steve Kinnane Kate Fullagar: ‘Biography in Eighteenth-Century Tōtaiete Mā: Insights from the Whole Lives of Purea, Tupaia, and Hitihiti’ Shino Konishi: ‘Embodying Indigenous Biography’ Arini Loader: ‘Māori in the Mirror: Approaching 19th Century Māori Lives’
2.30-3.00pm	Afternoon Tea
3.00-4.00pm	Biography Slam 1 Chair: Malcolm Allbrook Laurie Allen: ‘Guldy: An Indigenous Ned Kelly’ Alex Bond and Libby Connors: ‘The Making of a Warrior in a time of Frontier War’ Jodi Haines: ‘Charlie Dennison is my Great Grandfather’ Brenda L. Croft: ‘Two promising lads: Joseph and Lindsay Croft’ Lucy Davies and Kate Laing: ‘Joyce Clague’
4.15pm	Coach transport to National Portrait Gallery
5.00pm	Keynote 2. Chair: Kate Fullagar Alice Te Punga Somerville: ‘Te Rangihiroa, Oodgeroo, Te Hurinui, Hamuera and me: Indigenous biographies without borders’
6.00pm 7.40pm	Cocktail Reception and Gallery Visit Coach transport to ANU

Program Day Two: Friday 16 November 2018
9.00-10.00am	Keynote 3. Chair: Shino Konishi Ashley Glassburn Falzetti: ‘Both/And: Anti-colonial Approaches to Writing Indigenous Life Stories’
10.00-10.30am	Morning Tea
10.30-12.00pm	Session 3. Stories Chair: Melanie Nolan Grace Karskens: ‘Nah Doongh’s Story: Aboriginal history, biography and memory in Western Sydney’ Katerina Teaiwa: ‘Finding Nimanoa's Daughters’ Natalie Harkin: ‘Archival-poetics and Aboriginal Domestic Labour Stories from South Australia’
12.00-1.00pm	Lunch
1.00-2.30pm	Session 4. Futures Chair: Sam Furphy Malcolm Allbrook: Biographies of Deep Time Figures Alistair Paterson: Archaeological Biographies of Historical Experiences Leah Lui-Chivizhe: ‘A biography or life history of the Auridh mask’
2.30-3.00pm	Afternoon Tea
3.00-4.00pm	Biography Slam 2 Chair: Tom Griffiths Louise Martin-Chew: ‘Fiona Foley: Provocateur: Writing her life’ Suzanne Spunner: ‘All-About Rover Thomas’ Alec O’Halloran: ‘The Master from Marnpi’ Kathryn Wells: ‘Georgia Lee (Dulcie Pitt), 1921-2010’
4.00-4.30pm	Closing Remarks: Malcolm Allbrook, Tom Griffiths and Shino Konishi