Dr Vanessa Russ

Dr Vanessa Russ is the Associate Director of the Berndt Museum of Anthropology at The University of Western Australia, and previously worked at the Department of Culture and the Arts as a business analyst. As Associate Director, Vanessa focuses on the importance of this significant university museum and its collections to create a dynamic facility for all Australians to learn about world cultures with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia; while engaging students in new ways of accessing and sharing cultural knowledge with respect to the communities from which it is derived. The museum’s collections stretch across Australia into Asia and Oceania, reaching into the disciplines of art and anthropology. Vanessa was born in Derby and raised between Derby and Ngullagunda (Gibb River Cattle Station) and has family connections to Ngarinyin and Gija people in the Kimberley. After completing Honours (Fine Arts) at the University of NSW in 2009, she returned to Western Australia and attained a PhD in Fine Art at the University of Western Australia in 2013. She was awarded a Churchill Fellowship 2014, and travelled across the USA, Hong Kong and Singapore investigating the effects on Indigenous populations of national identity in mainstream art museums.

name
Dr Vanessa Russ
position
AGWA Board Member
photo

Include in “People”
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Include in “Board”
Yes