Entertainment
2 May, 2024
Fellowship for curator
FIRST Nations local researcher, artist and curator Nerelle Nicol has been one of six cultural workers selected for the National Museum’s Australia’s Encounters Fellowship Program 2024 – a once in a lifetime international program.
Renowned for her latest work with Cairns Indigenous Art Fair – Lugger Bort, an exhibition dedicated to the lives of the Aboriginal, Torres Strait and South Sea Islanders who worked in the pearling, beche-de-mer and trochus industries – Ms Nicol decided to apply for the fellowship to grow her skills and eventually bring back Lugger Bort.
Ms Nicol was selected among hundreds of applications of First Nations cultural workers across the country in April and is the only fellow from Queensland.
The six fellows will be placed in leading cultural institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the UK for 12 weeks.
“I’m a creative artist, community curator and historical researcher, and my interest is in social and political history research, telling those stories through exhibitions and other creative mediums,” she said.
“Having done two exhibitions and worked as a community researcher and curator, I applied for the fellowship because I want to develop my skills and learn how to tell stories in a more elevated and contemporary setting that creates more engagement.
“I was overwhelmed and excited by the news that I had been selected as a fellow, and I feel blessed to be able to go behind the scenes of what happens in these institutions.”
The intensive program will include a trip to New Zealand to Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, with a particular focus on First Nations-led cultural work and programs, followed by a trip to the United Kingdom where they will conduct research, participate in workshops, undertake individual placements and build networks.
“I feel very privileged to be able to understand what goes into presenting exhibitions and also to provide institutions with knowledge and insights of how we as First Nations tell stories and best practices for engaging us in telling those stories,” Ms Nicol said.
“Through this fellowship I want to build on my Lugger Bort project, bring my story as a major exhibition. That’s one of my dreams for the 2032 Olympic Games as important Australian history on how the pearl industry in the Torres Strait region influenced world markets.
“Opportunities like these are great for us (First Nations) to develop and share our knowledge with the world, while building a network with other First Nations so I encourage them to make the most of opportunities that are made for us,” Ms Nicol said.
