Archived sound and creative engagements with Papua New Guinean cultural heritage in Australia

For people in the region of Oceania and Indigenous Australia, histories have long been held in oral and embodied forms. Pacific historians have pointed to the 'vast store of lived and relived experience' held in oral histories and embodied practice, as well as to histories that can 'be sung, danced, chanted, spoken, carved, woven, painted, sculpted, as well as written'. For Pacific heritage then, a culturally specific archive is not just about regional focus, but also the form in which archival records are held. In this article, we explore recent Papaul New Guinea diaspora community engagement with sound recordings in PARADISEC (Pacific and Regional Archive of Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures) by conceptualising it as an archive that is culturally specific, not just in its regional focus on the Pacific, but also in its audio-visual modality. This co-authored article explores how creative engagements with PNG diaspora communities have created a dynamic space for cultural action in diaspora.