Dr. Katherine Aigner

Biography

Katherine Aigner is a Research Fellow at the School of History, Culture and Languages at the Australian National University. Her work includes collaborative interdisciplinary research with Indigenous Elders and cultural knowledge holders both in Australia and abroad. Aigner has a background as a historian, curator, and filmmaker, focusing on the documentation and protection of cultural and environmental heritage. She holds a PhD in critical Indigenous Studies, having conducted extensive research on issues related to native title and the Stolen Generations. Aigner has over ten years of experience working as a curator at the National Museum of Australia and the Vatican Museum's ethnographic section, where she was instrumental in re-establishing connections between Indigenous collections and the source communities worldwide. Throughout her career, she has published four large format edited books profiling Indigenous communities and has been centrally involved in curating cross-cultural exhibitions. Her research interests include the repatriation of cultural heritage, Indigenous activism, and the exploration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems across different environments.

Research Interests