Keepsake: Launch and Panel Conversation

What makes us who we think we are? What shared family memories and sense of identity do we pass on down the generations? Is it the collection of molecules and microbiomes we hold in our DNA, or does environment, socialization, and the things we hold dear all play a part in our unique sense of self?

Our fascinating new exhibition, Keepsake, explores the role of mementos and everyday objects and how they help to shape our unique sense of self.

This will be a conversation which pushes us to consider the meeting points of science, culture, family history and art, and the way in which they shape our collective humanity.

Join us for the exhibition opening to share family histories and put questions to our panelists.

Panelists

Tui Raven

A curator and commentator on Indigenous perspectives, knowledge systems and ways of knowing and being which have shaped the sharing of memories and keepsakes for over 60,000 years.

Dr Kate Gregory

Battye Historian at the State Library whose job it is to piece together the patchwork of our collective WA histories to weave a vibrant joint social identity.

Dr Parwinder Kaur

Genetic scientist and Director of the DNA Zoo, who challenges the recent phenomenon of commercial DNA testing, asking us to really consider what happens to those spit tests once we send them off. Is science the only way to find our past – or is biology just one aspect of what makes us who we are?

Gemma Nisbet

An author whose recently published book reaches into family legacies via the power of The Things We Live With.

Images from the State Library of Western Australia Collection:

• 095990PD: Ella and Faulkner Mackay looking at photograph album (1930-1940?). Photogragher T.F. Mckay.
• 098384PD: Master Kline with his toy koala, Kalgoorlie (1930-1940?).
  Photogragher T.F. Mckay.
• 104497PD: Bride Phoebe Searcy nee Leach, 1927. Photo by Dease Studios.