The Future of History @UNSW House | Sun 29 Nov

History is not only what we inherit. It is what we carry, perform, share and create every day. From treasured objects and embodied knowledge to social media and digital networks, explores how the stories we tell shape who we are and what future generations will remember.

The Future of Shopping @UNSW House | Sunday, 29 November sessions

The Object

11–11.40am | Sunday 29 November

History is made, preserved and passed on in many ways. Through treasured objects, shared stories, cultural practices, community spaces and the relationships that bind people together, communities create living archives that extend far beyond museum collections. This conversation explores the many ways history is created and carried through community. Through remarkable objects held and cared for by Muslim families across Greater Sydney. Alongside the knowledge, memories and traditions that surround them, speakers reflect on what we choose to preserve, why it matters, and how history continues to evolve through everyday acts of care, gathering and cultural transmission.

Featuring Zia Ahmad OAM, Vina Purwantoro and Mohamad Ali, participants in Khaled Sabsabi's major film project Moments in Waiting, this conversation offers an expanded understanding of history as something continually made, shared and sustained by communities.

Embodied Histories

1–1.40pm | Sunday 29 November

Languages, songs, ceremonies, gestures and cultural practices are carried through the body, transmitted across generations, performance and lived experience.

In this conversation Peta Strachan (Jannawi Dance Clan), Maryjane Schwenke (Matavai Cultural Arts) and Dr Leah Lui-Chivizhe explore the body as a living archive. From language revitalisation and storytelling to cultural practice and dance, speakers consider how knowledge survives through people and what it means to carry history within ourselves.

The Internet | The Slop

4–5pm | Sunday 29 November

For much of human history, archives were created by institutions. Today, millions of people document their lives and communities in real time through social media.

Join Michael Sun, Lena Tuck and Jack James, hosts of triple j's video podcast The Slop, for a live recording exploring defining moments, memes, internet culture and experiences shared online. 

Speakers

Mohamad Ali is the founder, director and curator of the Sydney-based AI-Khatt Al-Jameel Private Collection of Qur'an Manuscripts. Dedicated to studying and preserving Islamic calligraphic heritage for more than 2 decades, he curates an extensive assembly of more than 100 rare Qur'anic manuscripts spanning more than 1200 years of history. Ali's work centres on the meticulous conservation, historical contextualisation and provenance research of script styles from early Kufic to regional styles across major Islamic dynasties. A contributor to academic publications and international exhibitions, he works to bridge scholarship and public engagement to celebrate Islamic sacred art.

Zia Ahmad OAM is the Editor-in-Chief of Australasian Muslim Times, a Trustee of Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare and Public Officer of the Australian MEFF Consortium that organises the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair. He was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2026 and won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Premier's Multicultural Communications Awards in 2021.

Vina Purwantoro is a designer, academic and community arts practitioner currently working across Sydney and Melbourne. She is the co-founder of An. Other Collective, a community of female Muslim creatives, exploring themes of identity, politics, culture and faith through artistic expression and public events. She is inspired by the creative possibilities presented when working in community and develops work that invites new ways of relating and connecting to one another and the world.

Dr Leah Lui-Chivizhe is a Torres Strait Islander cultural historian and lecturer in History at UNSW Sydney. Her research focuses on reconnecting 19-century museum collections with Torres Strait Islander communities, strengthening connections to pre-colonial histories, and human and more-than-human relations, while advancing Indigenous-led, decolonial approaches within museums and collecting institutions.

Maryjane Schwenke is a Samoan international performer, producer, director and an advocate for Pacific cultures, community development and environmental action. The co-founder and managing director of Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts, Schwenke takes pride in building strong partnerships with organisations that support Pacific cultural communities. Matavai has a strong commitment to mentoring youth, advancing community initiatives and fostering excellence in individuals, serving as a thriving hub that fosters positivity and unity, contributing positively to society.

Peta Strachan (NSW) is a proud Dharug woman and the founder and artistic director of Jannawi Dance Clan. Her 4-decade career has been shaped by dance, cultural practice and a deep connection to Country. From NAISDA and Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre to Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Sydney Olympic Games, Strachan has performed nationally and internationally while developing a practice grounded in Dharug language, song and cultural leadership. In 2008 she founded Jannawi, a Dharug-led intergenerational First Nations dance company. At the heart of her work is a belief in dance as ceremony, memory, healing and a way of carrying culture forward.

Michael Sun is an editor, critic and curator from China and Australia. He hosts The Slop, an ABC show braving the doomscroll to unearth the worst and best in internet culture. His film, music, and cultural criticism has been published in The Guardian, the Saturday Paper, the Monthly, Esquire, Meanjin and many more. He writes a monthly advice column for Shameless where cosplays as an agony aunt.

Lena Tuck is a social media marketer and strategist who's helped media outlets like the ABC and Pedestrian.TV develop their social media voice. With a background in digital storytelling and known for her sharp, funny and deeply online take on pop culture and the internet's weirdest corners and a knack for turning chaotic trends into smart, engaging commentary, Lena has built a loyal audience who come for her humour and stay for her insight. Whether she's breaking down the latest algorithm spawned phenomenon or skewering the week's most unhinged headlines, Lena brings warmth and wit to everything she does.

Jack James is a journalist and newsreader at triple j. After years covering breaking news and the stories shaping young Australia, he's developed a knack for cutting through the noise and making complex issues easy to understand. His reporting spans everything from politics and policy to internet culture, with a focus on the stories that matter to younger audiences today and into the future.