NIMBI IS A DIGITAL REPOSITORY OF CULTURAL MATERIAL AND APPLIED ART HISTORY. WE ENDEAVOUR TO DIGITALLY REPATRIATE WORKS BACK FROM GLOBAL INSTITUTIONS TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY OF PEPPIMENARTI.

NIMBI is an initiative that embraces Ngan’gikurrungurr culture, language, and traditional practices. By weaving together repatriation, media libraries, community access and Aboriginal governance, the NIMBI digital heritage program celebrates and extends the continuum of Ngan’gikurrungurr oral and visual storytelling in the form of a digital archive and resource bank that has been designed, managed and operated by Peppimenarti community members, in partnership with Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation

Durrmu Arts will repatriate all the photographs, artwork, text, sound recordings and film or video footage that have been sourced from the region since first contact. To amplify the value and values of the Daly River Region’s cultural records, a digital library will be established with the aim to connect Ngan’gikurrungurr people with their ancestors, family and country. Focusing on the many forms of expression and representation that have been employed over many generations by people of the West Daly region, we will establish a media-rich digital library resonating with voices of Ngan’gikurrungurr knowledge holders.

Durrmu Arts realise knowledge management systems have the potential to disrupt cultural practices. Programs lacking Aboriginal leadership can present Indigenous stories without amplifying the voices authorised to express cultural knowledge. This digital heritage program features end to end community control. Community leaders in Peppimenarti will ensure user friendly and sustainable systems are tailored to the needs of community members and local stakeholders. The positive stories that will flow from the program will give voice to Ngan’gikurrungurr leaders engaged their own development.

Through existing relationships such as the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in Virginia, USA and new relationships as we go, we will build a huge archive of song, dance, art and community and cultural legacy for the people of the West Daly Region to share and access.

NIMBI is a growing database of historical moments and cultural importance, it will act as a resource for many stakeholders in the community and it will provide a unique and vital source of art history for future artists.