Encounters Fellowships Appeal

Encounters Fellowships at the National Museum are made possible with the support of our donors.

This program is in its fifth year and has seen 12 First Nations future cultural leaders hone their skills in museology – impacting thousands within communities across the country.

This selective program provides successful candidates with the opportunity to work alongside experts at the National Museum in Canberra, other Australian national institutions the British Museum in London as well as other institutions around the globe.

Fellows gain behind-the-scenes experience in areas including collections research and preservation, exhibition planning, digital storytelling, educational programming and project management.

Donations

Your donation will support the 2021 Encounters Fellowships intake to:

• Travel to and work in Canberra, the UK, France and Canada – gaining skills, knowledge, relationships and networks.
• Enable each of the Fellows to create and deliver a community-based project.
• Enable Museum staff to collaborate and work on Country with the Fellows and their communities.
• Provide long-term mentoring support and engagement with the National Museum and its staff.

The impact of the previous Encounters Fellowships programs (2016 and 2019):

• Successful delivery of community-based programs including: digital mapping initiatives, language revitalisation programs, digital repatriation programs and the production of travelling exhibitions.
• Graduates of the 2019 program have been invited to undertake further study at leading international institutions, including The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, London, England; Grassi Museum of Applied Arts, Leipzig, Germany; British Museum, London, England; University of Cambridge, England; and the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
• Creation of award-winning language-preservation programs – revitalising First Nations dialects in North West Queensland.
• Curation of nationally touring First Nations exhibitions.
• Employment at leading cultural institutions and peak bodies including the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, Arts Northern Rivers, Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation, Gab Titui Cultural Centre and James Cook Museum.