Reworlding the Archive: Robin Boyd, Gregory Burgess and Indigenous Knowledge in the Architectural Archive.” between Architecture and Engineering

Abstract

In her book Decolonising Solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles, Clare Land suggest how non-Indigenous people might develop new frameworks supporting Indigenous struggles. Land argues research is deeply implicated with processes of colonisation and the appropriation of indigenous knowledge. Given that architectural archives are central to the research of architectural history, how might these archives be decolonised? This paper employs two disparate archives to develop a framework of how architectural archivists might begin to decolonise these archives. Firstly, these archives are the Grounds Romberg and Boyd Archive (GRB) at the State Library of Victoria (SLV). Secondly, the Greg Burgess Archive is now located at Avington, Sidonia in Victoria. The materials from each of these archives will be discussed in relation to two frameworks. These are the Tandanya-Adelaide Declaration endorsed by The Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) and the Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) framework developed by Janke (2019). These archival frameworks suggest how interconnected architectural histories and historiographies might be read, reframed and restored. Decolonising architectural archives will require a continuous process of reflection and political engagement with collections and archives. In pursuing these actions, archivists and architectural historians can begin to participate in the indigenous Reworlding of the archive.