Alice Springs' Indigenous culture collection allows access to priceless knowledge on country for first time

ABC NEWS (Australia)

For the first time in history the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies has expanded its reach beyond Canberra, opening a new centre in Alice Springs. The new facility will allow locals to access more than one million items of Indigenous cultural significance, preserving culture and language for generations to come.

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00:00 It's the largest collection of its kind in the world.

00:06 Over 700,000 photographic records, over 42,000 hours of audio material, over 6 million feet

00:13 of film material and a growing art and object collection at the moment in excess of 6,000

00:20 items.

00:21 Now accessible for the first time outside Canberra.

00:24 Community has a voice, the community has access, the community of the future can do research.

00:29 The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, or IATSIS,

00:34 today opening its first satellite office in the heart of Mbantua Alice Springs.

00:40 Think about the symbolism in Alice Springs being geographically the centre of Australia

00:45 and thinking about the centrality of First Nations people and the history and culture

00:50 to Australia as a nation.

00:51 The centre features an exhibition and engagement space, allowing Indigenous people to access

00:57 cultural resources on country.

01:00 I think it's significant for us in Mbantua because to have this facility here for our

01:06 future generations and us to do research on our history.

01:10 IATSIS will also work closely with local communities to preserve, digitise and store at risk cultural

01:16 material.

01:17 So that we don't lose any of our history, our language or our culture.

01:21 Six of the seven staff at the new centre are Indigenous people from right here in Alice

01:26 Springs and they hope to continue building this local workforce for years to come.

01:33 A new space to safeguard culture and language in the centre of Australia.

01:38 [Music]

01:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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