Traditionally a curator is seen as a keeper of a museum or a collection and an organiser of an exhibition. With a new definition being adopted by the International Council of Museums in 2022, in which a museum is expected to be in service of a broader society and its audience with diverse cultural and social political backgrounds, a curator in a public museum is required to re-evaluate his/her/their role to meet this new challenge and opportunity. A curator is one active member of a museum team whose goal is to offer varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing through exhibition and public engagement programs which reflect the broader communities’ interests.

In this talk, Dr Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling) shared how she has been acknowledging the Chinese histories of geographic locations in Australia and inserting them into their associated cultural landscapes. These endeavours were examined across the spheres of gallery exhibitions, participatory art, and public art. She shared the inspiration behind her artworks and the processes she employed to produce them. Her techniques were examined in both historical and contemporary context, ranging from paper effigies to cast bronze. This talk is intended to foster dialogue about the role art can play in historically instating communities. The lecture may be particularly suited to artists aspiring to make public art or produce content for museums.