ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the community of Hermannsburg/Ntaria as the community of interest in relation to the Strehlow Collection. Based on many years of working on projects with various members of the community, I have come to know its legacy as an art centre and a hybrid Lutheran/Aboriginal religious community in the historical precinct that remains intact with its over 100-year-old buildings. It is also the setting for the biographical legacies of Carl and Ted Strehlow, renowned watercolour artist Albert Namatjira and his mentor Rex Batterbee, the Reverend Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht, who succeeded Carl Strehlow, and the dominant family groups and estates including contemporary community leaders such as Mark Inkamala. The purpose of this chapter is to document the connection the people of Hermannsburg have to their historical and contemporary role in using the Strehlow archive as a knowledge resource. This role has seen them develop from being seen as potentially interested community “constituents” to active researchers in the context of the digital affordances now available for community engagement.
