Mapping sovereign futures through creative practice

This panel will explore the ways in which creative practices of mapping can chart courses for sovereign Indigenous futures. Moderated by Asti Sherring, (Manager, Changeable and Digital Collections at the National Museum of Australia), the panel will feature perspectives from Aidan Hartshorn, Sam Provost and Baden Pailthorpe. Aidan will discuss themes of sovereign futures in his recent work These violent delights (2024), commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, where his use of medium, histories and cultural practices collide in the creation of new objects. Sam will speak about the collaborative production of digital cultural landscapes using participatory mapping and 3D modelling software. Sam’s work seeks to redress the de-contextualisation of Indigenous place that is pervasive within the frameworks of western spatial visualisation. Baden will speak about the role that creative practice can play in mapping Indigenous Data Sovereignty, drawing from recent and ongoing collaborative projects. Asti will also bring valuable insights from her expertise in digital and changeable materiality and time-based media conservation at institutions with significant First Nations collections such as Te Papa Tongarewa and the National Museum of Australia.