Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Site and History Panel Discussion

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Site and History Panel Discussion

CAPTIVATE: The National Art School and Darlinghurst Gaol

Thursday 20 October 5 – 6.30pm, NAS Gallery 

This panel discussion will highlight the obvious and complex relationships that exist between People, Site and history especially the ongoing impact that colonisation has on Indigenous people and Culture. 

Each panel member has extensive expertise and experience the Indigenous Arts Ecology from a local to National and International perspective including the issues that impact Indigenous Australians in the creative industry and learning institutions. 

Stephanie Parkin (Panel Facilitator) 

Stephanie belongs to the Quandamooka People of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). She graduated from the Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Laws and Justice and has a Master of Philosophy on the issue of fake Aboriginal art and craft. Stephanie’s roles cover a range of legal and advocacy work in the Arts Industry, relating to the protection and management of artistic and cultural rights. Stephanie is the Chairperson of the Indigenous Art Code, and earlier in 2022, co-founded Parallax Legal, a law firm aimed at bringing perspectives together. 

Associate Professor Fabri Blacklock, Scientia Fellow in the UNSW School of Art and Design 

Fabri is a Nucoorilma/​Ngarabal/​Biripi woman, who also has English and Scottish ancestry. She is an academic, artist, historian and curator who is passionate about improving educational equity for Aboriginal people. Her career in the arts started as Assistant Curator of Koori History and Culture at the Powerhouse Museum curating eleven Aboriginal exhibitions and contributing Aboriginal perspectives and experiences to arts policy and procedures. Fabri is also a textile artist who is passionate about teaching environmental practices within the fashion industry and supporting and mentoring Aboriginal fashion designers to showcase wearable Aboriginal art. 

Hayley Pigrim

Hayley is a Darug woman from the Sydney area who is an an artist, a member of the Boomalli cooperative and has worked with Indigenous artists who are involved with the correctional services or are in prison. Hayley was born and raised on her traditional homelands in the southwest of Sydney and has always had a close connection to her culture and Country. Much of her art practice reflects her journey towards an understanding of healing and hope. It also allows her to express her deep connection to her family, their stories, their pain and anger. Art gives a visual language for stories too complex for words to represent. 

Jo-Anne Driessens Artists in the Black Coordinator, Arts Law Centre of Australia 

Jo-Anne was raised in Brisbane, Queensland and has been a practicing photographer for 25 years. Completing a 4‑year Photography cadetship at the State Library of Queensland in 1999, Jo-Anne has also worked across various arts and community focused roles and is able to bring holistic skills into specialised projects including curatorial frameworks, historical and contemporary research experience and community and cultural protocol principles. At Arts Law Centre of Australia Jo-Anne is working with the team to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and communities, deliver education workshops and meet with communities on outreach trips. 

Image: Euphemia Bostock, Possum Skin Cloak Print (detail). Photograph by Robin Hearfield

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