Decolonising Colonial Collections: Repatriation and Cultural Competence in Museums with guest Marika Duczynski

Decolonising Colonial Collections: Repatriation and Cultural Competence in Museums with guest Marika Duczynski

From New Books in Australian and New Zealand Studies by Marshall Poe

March 26, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

Marika Duczynski discusses decolonial practices and cultural competence in museums.

The Cultural Competence Collective welcomes Marika Duczynski onto the podcast to discuss cultural competence, decolonial practices, and community-led curation. Marika is a Gamilaraay and Mandandanji writer and curator and is the Indigenous Heritage Curator at the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum. Our conversation with Marika covers a range of crucial topics, delving into what it means to do decolonial work within colonial institutions, the importance of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), culturally respectful care of collections, and what self-determination and the right of response looks like in action. Together, we discuss what cultural competence looks like in supporting truth-telling, repatriation and building collaborative relationships with First Nations communities. Show notes This episode is hosted by Dr. Pooja Mittal Biswas. Pooja Mittal Biswas is an Academic Facilitator at the National Centre for Cultural Competence and an award-winning educator and author. She is the author of ten books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her ninth book, Hunger and Predation (Cordite Books, 2023) was shortlisted for the 2024 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Pooja Mittal Biswas

Guest: Marika Duczynski

Topics covered

  • decolonial practices
  • cultural competence
  • community-led curation
  • Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property
  • repatriation
  • collaborative relationships
  • truth-telling

Keywords

  • decolonisation
  • cultural competence
  • Indigenous heritage
  • museum curation
  • repatriation
  • First Nations
  • community engagement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Sydney, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Cultural Competence Collective, National Centre for Cultural Competence

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