A Monash University exhibition will highlight the benefits of incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing with practice-led research.
Presented by the Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab, the Barreeng Yirramboi exhibition will launch on Tuesday, 19 July, with a symposium and showcase of the lab’s talented PhD students’ work.
The exhibition’s name – Barreeng Yirramboi – comes from Boonwurrung words that mean “tracks towards tomorrow”. Lab director Professor Brian Martin says Indigenous knowledge can offer unique insights into many areas of research, contributing to innovative solutions to the world’s current challenges.
“Barreeng Yirramboi articulates how the premise of Indigenous ways of knowing relate to practice, and in particular, practice-based research,” he said.
“The synergies between these modes of thinking and making are vital to a configuration of new and exciting knowledge in relation to deep time and deep histories”.
The Wominjeka Djeembana lab is excited to showcase this proposition through its PhD candidates’ work and presentations from invited speakers.
PhD candidate and proud Pitta Pitta woman Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis will present her photo series (Dis)connected to Country during the exhibition. The work calls attention to the continuing negative impacts of colonisation within Western mapping technologies by highlighting the subjective nature and omission of Indigenous knowledge in map-making.
Jahkarli hopes the events will encourage others to incorporate Indigenous Knowledges into their research.
“Curation is a practice within itself. It’s about holding space for community, knowledge and Country,” she said.
“As First Nations curators, we have approached this exhibition for Barreeng Yirramboi relationally – recognising the interconnectedness of our art, ourselves, our Ancestors and Country.”
Jahkarli was part of New Photographers for PHOTO2022, and recently co-curated a First Nations group exhibition at Platform Arts in Geelong.
The exhibition will launch on Tuesday,19 July from 5.00pm until 7.00pm at the MADA Gallery at Monash University’s Caulfield Campus.
The Wominjeka Djeembana lab aims to provide an identity of Indigeneity at Monash University. Its vision is to articulate the synergies between Indigenous ways of knowing with practice-led research specifically in the areas of art, design and architecture (and beyond). It is also a Lab that leads the Decolonial and Indigenisation space for Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture curriculum.
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