Carrying the past, creating the future: Aunty Sana Balai in conversation with Jocelyn Flynn

The 16th of September marks the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinean Independence. To celebrate this moment please join us in the UQ Collection Study Room for a conversation between the Mittelheuser Great Ocean Scholar Aunty Sana Balai and Acting-Curator Jocelyn Flynn on the significant role Elders hold in passing down knowledge to the next generation.

This conversation reflects themes of cultural resilience seen across the works on display from the UQ Art Collection—asking how Elders pass on knowledge, and how the next generation carries this legacy. Grounded by the personal relationship between speakers, this conversation honours Balai’s pivotal role as an Aunty, mentor, and knowledge-holder for Pasifika creatives in the diaspora.

After the talk, we invite you to explore the Collection Study Room display.

This is a free event. Limited space available.

The Alumni Friends of UQ Collection Study Room is a unique teaching and learning space in the heart of the UQ Art Museum.

Sana (Susan) Balai is a Bougainville Elder born to the Nakaripa clan of Hakö peoples from Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB), Papua New Guinea. Sana is a distinguished curator, writer and researcher renowned for her transformative work with Pacific, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections. Throughout her career, she has championed ethical and cultural protocols, ensuring respectful engagement with both artifacts and communities. Sana is currently the Mittelheuser Great Ocean Scholar (in-residence) with the University of Queensland Art Museum. She is working of documenting her family history with the aim and vision to preserve as much of her cultural heritage as possible.

Jocelyn Flynn is Acting Curator at the University of Queensland Art Museum, and previously in the Asian and Pacific Art team at QAGOMA. She holds a Bachelor of Humanities (Art History) from The University of Queensland. Jocelyn has previously worked and volunteered for various institutional, commercial and community art organisations including the Institute of Modern Art (Brisbane); Metro Arts (Brisbane); and Milingimbi Arts and Culture (NT). She has written texts for Outer Space, Brisbane; Ian Potter Museum of Art, Old Quad University of Melbourne; and Runway Journal.

Image: Aunty Sana Balai and Jocelyn Flynn. Photographer: Claudia Baxter