First Nations arts, design & performance

Terms such as ‘design’ and ‘art’ continue to hold Euro-American connotations and emphases. As well as being central to social coherence and the wider cultural industries, art, design and literature communicate and demonstrate Indigenous cultures, struggles, self-determination, and calls for sovereignty. How can we develop more culturally sensitive and ecologically sustainable cultural-creative systems with integrity, authenticity and authority? We examine a range of topics: a deeper understanding of Indigenous Australian Fashion transforms thinking towards developing more culturally, ecologically and economically sustainable fashion systems. New models of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Protocols reposition the absolute ownership of cultural material with its creators. Social memory is enhanced and complex social messages impact diverse contemporary audiences.

Speakers

Dr Treena Clark

Treena Clark (PhD, BA Honours, BA PR) is a Kokatha and Wirangu emerging researcher based in Adelaide/Kaurna Yerta. Treena is a current University of Technology Sydney 2022 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow within the Faculty of Design and Society. Treena completed a Bachelor of Public Relations and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degrees from the University of South Australia and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Technology Sydney. Treena’s 2021 PhD thesis explored the field of Indigenous Australian public relations and initiated the decolonisation of Australian public relations. Specifically, the research aimed to assert Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of conducting public relations and privilege the stories, roles and contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have made within it. Treena’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow project, titled, Ad(dressing) Indigeneity: identity, healing, and social change through clothing, fashion, and style aims to unpack the stories behind First Nations fashion, art, and dress. Exploring how fashion can assist in our wellbeing and contribute to social change, this research focuses on urban areas and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ ways of dressing in these environments.

Nathan mudyi Sentance