2021 CACHE ECR Indigenous Australian Research Fellow Liz Cameron

CACHE welcomes Prof. Liz Belanjee Cameron as one of our 2021 ECR Indigenous Australian Research Fellows. Liz is a practicing Dharug artist and researcher, who holds the position of Chair of Indigenous Knowledges (Research) in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University.

During her fellowship, Liz will undertake a creative visual documentation of Indigenous Australian artefacts held in the Macquarie University Art Gallery in order to rediscover and analyse Indigenous art-making traditions. The project will generate an exhibition, with selected artefacts displayed together with Liz’s own interpretive pieces to highlight the visual knowledges and communication practices embedded in Indigenous arts. Attendees will be surveyed and their responses will form the basis of a research paper exploring how Indigenous art-making provides cultural knowledge. There are also plans to create a multimedia record of the exhibition to act as an ongoing educational resource. This collaborative research will serve to enhance engagement with the Art Gallery’s Indigenous collection and open up discussions regarding the use of creative arts as an analytical tool, the decolonisation of museum and gallery spaces, and the defocusing of Western values in attitudes towards art-making.

This project develops out of Liz’s doctoral thesis “Bangawarra Naa – Creative making in traditional Aboriginal healing practices”, completed in 2015 at the University of Newcastle. Her current research reflects her multifaceted background in areas of Indigenous health, community, education, and art. Her degrees include a Diploma in Fine Arts from TAFE NSW (1987) and a Master’s in Indigenous Health from Macquarie University (2008). She has held teaching positions in Indigenous studies at the University of Newcastle (2010–2014), Macquarie University (2009–2010), and the University of Western Sydney (2005–2009), as well as roles in Indigenous student, youth, and family counselling through TAFE NSW (1999–2002) and the University of Newcastle (2007–2009). Liz recently served as Director of the Institute of Koorie Education at Deakin University (2015–2019) and is a member of the Wattamattagal Bunyuwal Aboriginal Advisory Committee at Macquarie, providing strategic advice on the University’s Indigenous Research Plan. Liz has received a number of commendations for her contributions to higher education and research, including a National Indigenous Staff Scholarship Award (2010) and Deakin University Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indigenous Education (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018).

CACHE is delighted to be collaborating with Liz as an esteemed researcher in the space of Indigenous cultural heritage. For more information about Liz’s research, recent publications, and art, see her Academia profile and website Belanjee.