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15 First Nations artists from Australia, Taiwan and Aotearoa participate in online symposium

  • Date:2021-10-07~2021-10-09
15 First Nations artists from Australia, Taiwan and Aotearoa participate in online symposium

A symposium titled "Grounded in Place: Dialogues Between First Nations Artists from Australia, Taiwan and Aotearoa," which features a conversation between 15 First Nations artists, curators, and filmmakers, along with non-Indigenous scholars and museum professionals from Australia, Taiwan, Aotearoa, and the Philippines, will take place online from Oct. 7 to Oct. 9.

Comprised of panels, the symposium will focus on different keywords relating to the common themes of "land" as a site of contestation and self-determination, source of learning, sustenance, and creative production as well as where a sense of belonging, community, and culture is discovered.

On the first day of the symposium, there will be free online screenings of several award-winning documentary films by First Nations film Australia, Taiwan, and Aotearoa, including "Maralinga Tjuratja (2020)," "Where Has the Land Gone? (土地到哪裏去了?) (1997)," and "Bastion Point—Day 507 (1980)."

On the second day, there will be an opening, and keynote speech by Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines Patrick Flores, followed by two panels on the topics of "History and Sovereignty" and "Land and Community" of the First Nations.

On the last day, the symposium will present two panels on the topics of "Site and Materials" and "Place and Space" of the First Nations, and conclude with closing remarks discuss reflections and future directions.

To register for the symposium, please visit https://qut.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__FZbpaZkQMagEZNFWxPDQw

Organized by Dr. Sophie McIntyre at the Queensland University of Technology, Dr. Fang Chun-wei from the National Prehistory Museum in Taiwan, and Dr. Zara Stanhope from the Govett-Brewster Gallery, the symposium intends to offer a space where First Nations creative practitioners who have not previously met can gather, share ideas and insights, and develop connections.