If the truth be told: the world's oral historians gather in Sydney

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If the truth be told: the world's oral historians gather in Sydney


The stories of 500 Israeli women who listen to Palestinians from occupied Israeli territories and keep watch on the border checkpoints are among the highlights of an international oral history conference next week in Sydney. Historians from 31 countries across all continents are gathering for Dancing with Memory, the 14th conference of the International Oral History Association being held at the University of Technology, Sydney. Lead organiser, UTS historian Associate Professor Paula Hamilton, said the "Machsom Watch" paper of Dafna Banai would reveal the results of an inspirational five-year effort by Israeli women - travelling deep into Palestinian land, watching and listening, and bringing what they heard to the Israeli people and the world. "The conference gathers stories reflecting both the pleasure and pain of memory in human experience," Professor Hamilton said. "There are stories of disasters, such as those of the 9/11 New York firefighters, the Bali Bombings and the ACT bushfires in Australia. "There are also harrowing stories of trauma, survival and resistance - of the underground Greek Catholic Church in the Ukraine; the Vietnam war, Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, surviving terror in Argentina and Chile and the struggles of Australia's Indigenous peoples. "On the other hand there are wonderful and lively Australian papers on sexuality in Sydney's northern beaches during the 1960s, the annual Agricultural shows in rural Australia, women's movement activists, the history of Lord Howe island, the histories of various migrant communities and interviews with Australian scientists." The conference, from Wednesday 12 July until Sunday 16 July, will also discuss the purposes and uses of oral histories in many settings, including museums, heritage sites, on the Internet, in digital media and as a focus for community revitalisation. The conference will be opened by Her Excellency, Professor Marie Bashir AC, Governor of NSW. The welcome address will be given by Bob Debus, the NSW Minister for the Arts and patron of the conference. The Conference is hosted by the International Oral History Association in collaboration with the Oral History Association of Australia, State Library of New South Wales, University of Technology, Sydney, and the University of New England. Friday 7 July 2006