Historian and curator Leah Lui-Chivizhe is a Torres Strait Islander with enduring family connections to the eastern and western Torres Strait. Her research focuses on how nineteenth-century collections from the region can be useful for reconnecting Islanders with our pre-colonial histories of human and other-than-human relations. Leah is a postdoctoral fellow in History at the University of Sydney.
This is an interesting book that, because of its novelty and its intrinsic interest, most readers will find very satisfactory indeed. A fresh, vigorous book. --QRC Masked Histories is a wonderful journey into the heart of the Torres Strait islands. Leah Lui-Chivizhe places turtle-shell masks at the centre of her cultural history as she peels away layers of a colonial past and present to reveal a humanity that pulsates with both life and sadness. A ground-breaking history. --JULIA HORNE, HISTORIAN, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY