Jilda Andrews

Dr. Jilda Andrews is a Research Fellow at the Australian National University's ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences, affiliated with the Research School of Humanities and the Arts. She specializes in reimagining museum practices through Indigenous perspectives, focusing on decolonizing collections and cultural diplomacy. Her work bridges historical artifacts with contemporary narratives, emphasizing ancestral futures and regeneration through metaphorical 'cool-burning' practices derived from Indigenous land stewardship.

Andrews has contributed to major projects such as the National Museum of Australia’s Great Southern Land exhibition and collaborates internationally with institutions like the Smithsonian and British Museum. She is a key figure in Australia’s cultural diplomacy efforts, notably shaping the 2025 Osaka Expo’s Australian Pavilion theme Chasing the Sun, which centers Country as a unifying concept.

Her research explores Indigenous heritage, emotional geographies of museum objects, and the ethical repatriation of ancestral remains. She advocates for museums to act as sites of regeneration rather than static archives, leveraging objects as 'ambassadors' that connect past and future through cultural revival.