Dr. Katherine Aigner

1989

Historian and ethnographer Katherine Aigner has dedicated her career to collaborating with First Nations communities to preserve cultural heritage and reveal overlooked histories. She lived at John XXIII College in 1991 while studying at the Australian National University, an experience that exposed her to people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. She later completed a PhD in Indigenous Studies, developing a research practice centred on working in partnership with First Nations communities and cultural institutions around the world.

Katherine has worked extensively with museums as spaces for cultural exchange, education and historical reflection. For 15 years she served as Associate Curator in the ethnographic section of the Vatican Museums, Anima Mundi – Peoples, Arts and Cultures, where she worked to reconnect Indigenous collections with the communities from which they originated. This work resulted in the first major publications on the Vatican’s ethnographic collections, including the large-format books The Americas (2014), Australia (2017), and Oceania and Island Southeast Asia (2022).

Her research and creative work also includes the award-winning documentary Australian Atomic Confessions, which documented the twelve British atomic bomb tests conducted in Australia between 1952 and 1964 through the eyewitness accounts of atomic veterans and Aboriginal Elders whose lands were affected by the tests and are custodians of the uranium found there. Katherine is currently a Research Fellow at the Australian National University, in repatriation and continuing her work exploring cultural heritage, cross-cultural collaboration and the role of history in shaping contemporary understanding.

Quote

“Live and let live.”

All photographs © Bronte Morel 2026 and not to be reproduced.

Copyright/Artwork Pictured: Thanakupi "Eran" 2010