The FoTL AGM was held on 26 July 2023. President Katherine Baxter was reelected for a further term of office, and a new committee member was elected: Barbara Brookes, Professor Emerita at the University of Otago.
Collecting for Contemporary Voices and Archives: Purpose and practice
Following the meeting Dr Ashwinee Pendharkar, ATL Curator Contemporary Voices and Archives, gave a presentation about her role and the current work for which she is responsible. Her talk,
Collecting for Contemporary Voices and Archives: Purpose and practice, drew on one collection as a case study: Abhi Chinniah is a New Zealand-born portrait photographer, podcaster and writer of Sri Lankan-Malaysian descent now living in New Zealand. The collection ATL-Group-00785 includes photographic portraits of NZ women from her exhibitions ‘Light Skin Dark Skin’ and ‘A Migrant’s Path’ along with interviews of and essays by these women, addressing the important issue of the negative impacts of colourism.
Dr Ashwinee Pendharkar is an academic and heritage professional with deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the inaugural curator of CVA, she has been instrumental in giving form to the Alexander Turnbull Library’s vision for a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable documentary heritage representing all New Zealanders. She leads these efforts by proactively ensuring focus on hitherto marginalised and under-represented cultural identities, communities, events, concerns, and formats.
