Oral History NSW is pleased to award this year’s Community History Award to Albury LibraryMuseum for their project Our Stories. Please read on to find out more about this special work direct from the project team, and explore the interviews and stories further online.
We are deeply honoured to receive this award from Oral History NSW. Thank you to the committee for recognising this work. Oral history ensures that lived experiences are not lost, and we are proud to contribute to preserving these voices for future generations.
Our Stories was a community heritage project that collected oral history interviews and culminated in an exhibition at Albury LibraryMuseum from 7 September 2024 to 23 March 2025. In their own words, three generations of the Rimal and Sapkota families shared their experiences of migration as Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees.
The Rimal Family
The project aimed to document, interpret and celebrate Albury’s unique role as a major resettlement area for Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees in Australia. The exhibition featured oral histories, photography, personal objects and documentary films in an open and heartfelt exploration of the remarkable journeys, culture and achievements of two families that now call Albury home. Digital access to the exhibition and interviews continues online.
Major outputs included:
Eight oral histories with transcripts and translations
Three documentary films subtitled in English and Nepali
Twenty-eight photographs
An exhibition website
Cataloguing of oral histories, films, photographs and objects into the Museum and Social History Collection
The AlburyCity Museum and Social History Collection tells the stories of Albury and its region through over 34,000 items, including images, objects, documents and audio-visual material. While the collection has strong representation of First Nations histories, colonial settlement, Chinese, Lebanese and German migration, and post-WWII European migration, more recent migration stories were identified as a priority for development. Since the 2000s, Albury has become a Regional Settlement Hub for families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Bhutan and Sudan.
The Sapkota Family
Albury, a major regional city on the NSW side of the Murray River, has a population of around 56,000. Since 2009, it has become one of the largest resettlement areas for Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees in regional Australia. According to the 2021 Census, Nepali is the most spoken language at home in the AlburyCity LGA other than English.
The LibraryMuseum has long-standing connections with the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community through outreach programs, including a partnership with the Albury-Wodonga Volunteer Resource Bureau since 2015 to support Bhutanese seniors. Conserving the stories of the elder generation was becoming increasingly urgent, and we were fortunate to interview three generations of each family, capturing their unique migration experiences and hopes for the future.
The 2023 NSW Heritage Grant provided essential funding. We began by hosting a meet-and-greet evening at the LibraryMuseum, offering a translated tour and inviting families to participate. External contractors included a professional oral historian, filmmaker, designer and translator, supported by LibraryMuseum staff:
Sara Korman (Coordinator Learning & Outreach) – assisted with interviews
Narelle Drewe (Learning & Outreach Officer) – built strong community links
Sandra Endresz (Museum Collections Officer) – provided curatorial support
Interviews were conducted in family homes, with transcripts reviewed by participants.
Exhibition themes included: Beginnings: Life in Bhutan; Displacement: Leaving Bhutan; An Uncertain Future: Refugee Camps; A New Home: Arrival in Australia; Looking Forward: Plans for the Future. Accessibility was a priority: Nepali text featured in titles and labels, films were subtitled, and a PenFriend3 Audio Labeller enabled oral content playback in Nepali.
Community involvement extended to exhibition installation, where Bhutanese participants dressed a mannequin in a traditional sari, now part of the collection. After the physical exhibition closed, an online version was launched featuring oral histories, films, theme panels and a 3D walkthrough. Some material also informed the redevelopment of the Collection Gallery exhibition Bungambrawatha: Stories of Albury, which opened in July 2025.
Explore the online exhibition here:
https://www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au/leisure/museum-and-libraries/exhibitions/past/our-stories
Acknowledgements:
This project was made possible through the generosity of the Rimal and Sapkota families who have shared their experiences, homes, objects and images as part of this project.
This project was proudly supported by the NSW State Government.
Additional funding and in-kind support were provided by AlburyCity.
The exhibition was developed and project managed by the Albury LibraryMuseum with the generous support of the Albury Wodonga Volunteer Resource Bureau.
The films featured in this exhibition were created by Helen Newman of Nomad Films. The oral histories and photographs were captured by Featherweight Projects. Graphic design services were provided by Julia Fin of Fin Design. Translation services were provided by Kedar Sapkota.