Erna is committed to deepening the capacity of world, or ethnographic, museums to be useful resources for those whose cultural material they hold. Growing up as a member of the Papua New Guinean diaspora in Australia, Erna learned firsthand the value of collections as a way to connect and learn about one’s heritage. As a curator she has created and contributed to exhibitions that cover a broad range of topics including the legacies of colonialism, the colonial complicity of museums, Indigenous knowledges, contemporary art and making practices.
Erna holds an honours degree in Visual Arts, Masters of Museum Studies and received a PhD in Archaeology from University of Sydney. She undertook a postdoctoral post, as a research associate, at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge (2016-18), where she also received a Newton Trust Research Fellowship (2018).