Recently Dr Michael Ashley from Mukurtu (pronounced MOOK-oo-too) visited us as part of M&G NSW’s Travelling Places program.

Dr. Michael Ashley is CEO at the Center for Digital Archaeology (CoDA), a non-profit company affiliated with University of California Berkeley, which creates data management technologies for the preservation and sharing of cultural heritage. An archaeological photographer by training Ashley is also Director of Development of the Mukurtu Content Management System.

At the Mukurtu master class held at the State Library of NSW, Ashley described how CoDA collaborates with individuals and communities around the world to provide solutions for digital heritage management, and what the future holds.

Besides the exciting possibilities for Indigenous communities to share their digital heritage, there is also the potential for major institutions to unlock their collections and digitally repatriate their Indigenous collections.

Along with Kelley Shanahan and our own Steve Miller, Dr. Michael Ashley has been on the road conducting Travelling Places workshops and using Mukurtu to empower Aboriginal communities in NSW to manage, share, preserve, and exchange their digital heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways.

M&G NSW talked to Dr Michael Ashley about Mukurtu, its history, and how it might be further developed and hosted in Australia.