Forty-five jobs are set to be cut at the Art Gallery of NSW (around 11% of the 385 full-time equivalent roles) including the curator of Australian art, the curator of Asian art, the music and community curator, the curator of film in international art, a new librarian, and a paper conservator.

Oil Spill Emerges from WWII Wreck in Chuuk Lagoon: The Rio de Janeiro Maru has begun leaking oil, raising urgent concerns for environment, tourism, and food security. #PPW #PotentiallyPollutingWrecks are fast becoming #ActivelyPollutingWrecks

"[I]n an age where cultural heritage is central to issues of progress and justice, museums have an obligation to educate the public not only on the history represented by the artifacts but also the nuances of the origins of the artifacts themselves." 👏 @sea-greeny.bsky.social #belitungbook

I’m delighted to see this new review of #belitungbook - thank you @pkhardy.bsky.social for sharing, and Joanna Ellis for your great analysis and kind words! @nuspress.bsky.social

🚢 CFP: APCONF, Bali 26-31 Oct 2026🌊 "Session 7b: Mobilising WWII wrecks for communities, oceans & shared futures." Explore heritage, ecology & Blue Economy potential in the Asia-Pacific 🗓️ Proposals due 20 Sept 🔗 Submit: apconf-much.org?page_id=501 #WWIIwrecks #UCH #BlueEconomy #APCONF2026

To whitewash history… is not only a grave insult to Black and Indigenous Americans but a problem for us all. Because the fact is that the past explains the present, and without history, there’s no way of understanding how we arrived at the current moment. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A national disgrace “Hundreds of university courses within teaching, languages, archaeology and media are among those being slashed as the tertiary sector pushes back against “confused” government policies” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Delighted to share my latest podcast for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social! Dr Jamie Wang speaks with me about human-environment dynamics in #Singapore, and how modernist, #sustainable #urbanism is imagined & practiced. Her new book is "Reimagining the More-Than-Human City", 2024, @mitpress.bsky.social 👇

Excellent open access article by Emiline Smith on the role scholarly facilitators play in the illicit trade in cultural objects and the harmful consequences of unethical scholarship and knowledge production, focusing on recent examples from Nepal and Cambodia. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Read: Vannessa Hearman (@vhearman.bsky.social), author of the award-winning "Unmarked Graves" (NUS Press, 2018) writes about a new exhibition at the National Museum in Jakarta focusing on women’s contribution to social change in Indonesia. www.insideindonesia.org/archive/arti... #indonesia #history

I’ve got so many fantastic books and authors lined up for the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast!

It was an absolute privilege to conduct this podcast interview with Heather Sutherland for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

One particular sequence in the film appears to having a profound impact… Having established the extraordinary beauty & complexity of life in the shallow waters, the camera follows the chains of a bottom trawling net to the ocean floor; it is a scene from a horror movie www.smh.com.au/environment/...

The 10th World Archaeological Congress (WAC-10) is currently taking place in Darwin. Yesterday, Dr Fiona Earl presented on the recent discovery of a Beaufort bomber...

Great to present on sovereign wreck diplomacy & Australian defence UCH in foreign waters at #WAC10 as part of our AIMA session on global maritime archaeology in Guam, Aotearoa NZ, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, India, Greece, Colombia, Vietnam &Germany! @johnkmccarthy.bsky.social

Bill’s presentation was a wonderful start to the session on community, and to the whole day! #WAC10

Karyn Moshe of the University of Cape Town on community maritime archaeology in South Africa #WAC10

Flinders Maritime Archaeology program @flindersmap.bsky.social recent graduate Sasha Joura on her community archaeology Masters research in Rakiura/Stewart Island, New Zealand #WAC10

Kicking off the WWII maritime archaeology session with Dr Fiona Earl of the Northern Territory Heritage Branch on the recent discovery of a Bristol Beaufort aircraft in the NT #WAC10

Fabulous contribution to our WWII session! #WAC10

Assistant Professor Saravanan, University of Calicut, on locating the ancient city of Muziris #WAC10

Fascinating talk at #WAC10 by Sumit Kumar Pandey (Kongunadu College of Engineering & Technology) on the Chola Kingdom’s far-reaching influence on maritime archaeology. 🌊⚓ A powerful reminder of South Asia’s seafaring past! #MaritimeArchaeology #WAC2025

At #WAC10, Mauro Frontini and team virtually presented their methodology for reconstructing historical maritime structures—using Aegina’s ancient harbor (Greece) as a case study. ⚓🏛️ #MaritimeArchaeology #WAC2025

AIMA-sponsored Maritime Archaeology session co-convened with @sea-greeny.bsky.social for #wac10 is all complete! We had a great time and thanks to all presenters! 🔱

James Hunter @seamuseum.bsky.social wraps up our #WAC10 Global Maritime Archaeology session with a talk on post-19th century VOC shipwrecks in Australia, including new discovery Koning Willem (lost 1857 near Robe, SA) @johnkmccarthy.bsky.social

Important insights from Carlos del Cairo Hurtado & Jesús Aldana Mendoza at #WAC10 on deep-sea heritage: the San José Galleon. 🏴‍☠️⚓ How can we safeguard its archaeological context from natural & human impacts? A crucial interdisciplinary challenge. #MaritimeArchaeology #WAC2025 @sea-greeny.bsky.social

⚓️ 🌊 Today’s the day - our Global Approaches to Maritime Archaeology session is on all day in DFL1.11. We’ve got shipwrecky books for sale and free nautical-themed tattoos courtesy of AIMA, plus sessions on community, WWII, ports and harbours, and wrecks! #WAC10 🌊⚓️

Do go for the book launch of Dr. Natali Pearson's (@sea-greeny.bsky.social) #Belitung if you're attending the World Archaeological Congress 2025 #WAC10!

The staff at Iran's National Museum in Tehran have sandbagged the exhibitions they cannot move. I just...

If you’re at #WAC10 in Darwin, come along to the joint international book launch from 12-1pm Tuesday 24 June in Danala foyer to get your signed copy of #BelitungBook. Yep, it’ll be chaos with lunch being served in the same place & location (🙈) so come ready to brave the crowds @nuspress.bsky.social

In Darwin on the Country of the saltwater people of the Larrakia nation this week for the world’s largest archaeological conference, held for the first time in Australia. Pretty nice up here ☀️ #WAC10

Excellent by Allan Behm on the idiocy of AUKUS www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Prior to the launch of the #MaltaManifesto I’m sharing my recent chapter on submerged conflict heritage in Southeast Asia, which looks at the sensitivities of managing sovereign craft, potential pollutants & human remains in foreign waters #UNOC3 #PPWs #OceanDecade link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/...

A useful guide to nautical knots for Millennials #Navy #tallships #Ageofsail

I am so glad someone who knows what they’re doing has finally written about this! On the question of whether WWII ships are being salvaged for their “low background” (low radiation) steel 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 TL:DR - unlikely

Can't make it to Nice, but want to be part of the conversation? Grab your ☕ or tea & join us June 12th the 'Malta Manifesto' hosted by @lr-foundation.bsky.social. 12 June, 8.30am CEST/7.30am BST/6.30am UTC Register here: bit.ly/Malta-Manife... #PPW #UnderwaterHeritage #UNOC3 #WorldOceanMonth

On June 12th, we are launching the ‘Malta Manifesto’ - an urgent call to protect people and planet from catastrophic oil pollution caused by shipwrecks left by two World Wars. Join our free #webinar, which sets out the Manifesto’s priorities for action. Register now: loom.ly/KucgG40

ICOMOS + IUCN Statement on Potentially Polluting Wrecks: - 8,500+ shipwrecks globally, most from 20th c war - approx 2.5-20million tons of pollutants - location of many PPWs remains imprecise - “Ticking Time Bombs” @icomos.bsky.social @unep.org #UNOC3 #OceanDecade www.icomos.org/actualite/ic...

📣🌊⚓Project Tangaroa’s ‘Malta Manifesto’ will launch online on 12 June as part of 3rd UN Oceans Conference. This is an urgent call to action to protect people and planet from catastrophic oil pollution caused by the global, toxic legacy of WWII shipwrecks: www.lrfoundation.org.uk/events/proje...

Very much enjoyed the in conversation session with Australian artist Ken Done at @seamuseum.bsky.social this morning. Not only did I get to “Double Done” 🤭, it was also a fascinating discussion about his series of 15 paintings about the 1942 Japanese mini submarine attack on Sydney Harbour

Oh hey, it's my thing! Looted text finds from recent war zones! You know, the thing I've been thinking about for, uh, *checks notes* about seven years now! I haven't found an easy answer that lets me sleep soundly, but apparently, some people have. Good for them. Allow me to add some thoughts.🧵

Arts and culture budget cuts are continuing to pull the plug on the United States' memory. Small museums in particular are under threat - and as they go dark, the stories of entire communities are vanishing into silence: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

If you listen to just one flood rescue story today, make it this: two firefighters recounting to me on live radio a rescue involving a farmer wearing nothing but budgie smugglers, his wife who cannot swim, their 6 (backed up) working dogs & a MacGuyvered bamboo raft. soundcloud.com/jess-mcguire...

We know so little of this last relatively undisturbed habitat. We cannot afford, and must not, trash it. #NoDeepSeaMining www.newscientist.com/article/2480...

I'm about to become the world's leading scholar in Prabowo's diplomasi kucing

If your 💙 skips a beat every time there is a #shipwreck story in the news, you really should join us at #WAC10 @worldarch.bsky.social next month. We've got a whole day devoted to #MaritimeArchaeology, including an update on this recent discovery! worldarchaeologicalcongress.com/wac10/explor...

📣 Join us on 24 May for this online event, "Eighty Years On: World War II Maritime Heritage in Australasia", part of National Archaeology Week and featuring speakers from @seamuseum.bsky.social @flindersmap.bsky.social #WAMuseum #UWA & Kyoto Uni #NAW2025 👇👇👇 events.humanitix.com/eighty-years...

Excellent work by @emmashortis.bsky.social drawing attention to this oil and gas rig that popped up while we were distracted by the election. Not only is the gas rig next to a Marine National Park, it now stands as a backdrop to the world famous Twelve Apostles #auspol