The Orality Centre was formed by a group of passionate educators who see the potential for advances in learning within the research of Orality Centre Founder, Dr Lynne Kelly, into the ancient memory systems from cultures all around the world.

The Doves, an art work in the Oenpelli style by Australian Indigenous artist, Andrew Munakali (1940-1988). Photo: Damian Kelly

Our aim is to research, develop and experiment with memory systems that bridge the divide between the ancient methods of learning and retaining information and the modern digital age that provides an abundance of information. Information that has been stored externally from the human mind, as a direct result of the development of literacy, remains disarticulated from the potential of being applied in creative and innovative ways. In response The Orality Centre hopes to revive the ancient and profoundly effective memory capacities of the human mind, since only retained information can actually be construed as knowledge.

The Orality Centre intends to work within the education sector, from primary schooling through to tertiary level, researching the most appropriate and effective means of applying the memory technologies of the past to the modern education of our children. We want to enrich learning for students of all abilities, including those with special needs, learning difficulties and as an extension for advanced learners.  The dream is to deepen their level of engagement and profoundly increase their level of information recall within the context of their schooling and beyond into their daily lives.

Adult learners are also a target for The Orality Centre’s research with the provision of group workshops, individual tuition and targeted memory technologies that are most suited to the interests and fields of study of each individual learner.

We are also interested in reviewing research on the response of those with dementia to music and places from the past, and whether there are formal methods we can employ throughout life to reduce the impact of memory issues with ageing.

From professional development in industries that require a vast amount of memorised information to enthusiastic amateurs who wish to learn more about their area of personal interest or to simply enhance their pre-existing knowledge, the value of memory systems is immense ,

Our research will be conducted in collaboration with our participating students and adult learners alongside our ongoing experimentation with the various memory devices from Indigenous cultures. We will also be devising memory devices here at The Orality Centre.

A memory board based on the Lukasa of the Luba People of west Africa

Our goal is to develop memory technologies that utilise the collective intelligence of us all, thereby harnessing an untapped potential for human creativity and innovation.

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