Letter From The Editor

Supporters

Well, it’s been a year.

Since The Design Files first launched in 2008, innovative and change-making designers and creatives have been a constant theme. We’ve concerned ourselves with seeking out and elevating the work of Australia’s most inspiring creatives - those clever architects, designers, and makers whose work contributes so much to the mood and culture of the time.

As passionate champions of Australia’s design and creative industries, this year has left us, at best, a little flummoxed. In the midst of a global pandemic, where scientific and medical data has become an obsessive focus of our daily lives, it’s easy to question where creativity fits in. After all, as the old adage goes - ‘we’re not saving lives’.

But creativity is crucially important. The zeitgeist can be defined as ‘the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history, as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.’ So often, this ‘spirit’ manifests throughs creativity. It is the spaces, buildings and neighbourhoods we design, build and inhabit, the studios, shops, galleries, and restaurants we gather within, the art, objects and imagery that we create and share. Our collective creative output matters, because these projects, big and small, become our most tangible legacy.

So, unquestionably, 2020 has tested us all, and the challenges of this year are likely to be with us for some time to come. But we must continue to celebrate, champion and support those creatives, studios and individuals who have the bold ideas and necessary courage to continue creating, to continue shaping our culture, and building the world around us.

The Design Files + Laminex Design Awards presents an opportunity to acknowledge the most exciting creative happenings in Australia each year.

Thank you for being part of it!

Lucy Feagins Founder & Editor The Design Files

EDITORIAL Elisa Carmichael

The Artists & Designers With 65,000+ Years Of Experience

Kip&Co with Bábbarra Women’s Centre, Kip + Co x Bábbarra

Koskela, Ngalya/Together

Elisa Carmichael – Ngugi woman, weaver and judge of the TDF Design Awards Handcrafted category – shares her thoughts on how the skills of First Nations artists and designers are being utilised in the design industry, and her hopes for the future.

Tjunkaya Tapaya of Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Tjanpi Teapot

I am a Ngugi woman from Quandamooka Country, Mulgumpin and Minjerribah (Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island). I come from a long line of strong women. Our country is abundant in materials, and caring for country has always been part of our ways of living and being. We have many cultural practices - song and dance, food, arts and stories. My family is inspired by our ancestral weaving practices – the process of gathering and nurturing materials and techniques to pass on to younger generations. The traditional weave for our gulayi (Quandamooka womens bags) and bunbi (little dilly bag) is a loop and diagonal knot, made with ungaire (fresh water swamp reed). Our Quandamooka weaving practices were interrupted as a result of colonisation. When the missionaries came, cultural practices such as our traditional weaving and language were forbidden to be practiced. I didn’t grow up weaving or knowing about our weaving. It has only been in the last 10 years that we have learned from and connected with the precious weaves of our ancestors through our Elder’s memories, research, yarning, community workshops and visiting museum collections. Once reconnecting with our weaving practices, I felt as though it was something I always knew how to do.

First Nations communities, artists and designers connect with different mediums and materials, and use their inherited ancestral skills to keep culture alive. Combining these skills with contemporary outcomes brings our voices and ways of life from the past into the future. Collaborations with artists, businesses and brands are another way to achieve knowledge sharing and upskilling, creating new platforms for First Nations cultural expression to shine. We are adaptable, and there’s no modern day materials our work won’t translate well with!

There are so many talented First Nations people imparting their knowledge, wisdom and skills in really diverse and exciting ways, making powerful statements across the creative industries. Some examples of amazing designers and projects include the important work of architect and academic Kevin O’Brien, intricate woven textile designs Grace Lillian Lee has adapted to fashion, Jenna Lee’s boundary-pushing contemporary art practice, the unbelievable stage design work of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s head designer Jacob Nash, jeweller Maree Clarke’s collaboration with the NGV, and the accessory designs of Kristy Dickinson at Haus of Dizzy, aka the queen of bling!

Edition Office & Daniel Boyd, For Our Country

Gorman and Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency, Mangkaja x Gorman

The Design Files + Laminex Design Awards 2020 also spotlights a number of brilliant examples of First Nations creative collaborations across all areas of the design industry.

Kudjla/Gangalu man and artist Daniel Boyd joined forces with Melbourne-based architecture firm Edition Office to realise ‘For Our Country’, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander war memorial. This breathtakingly beautiful monument draws on Boyd’s distinctive artwork and its symbolism of cultural erasure, to acknowledge the history and sacrifice of Australia’s First Nations service people. with female artists from Jilamara, Munupi and Ngaruwanajirri Art Centres.

Gorman’s beautiful womenswear collection from mid-2019 was created with Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency in Fitzroy Crossing, and the Bábbarra Women’s Centre in Maningrida collaborated with Melbourne-based brand Kip&Co to produce a powerful range of bedding and homewares featuring artworks from seven of their artists. This strong and varied representation of collaborative projects remind us of the diversity of First Nations groups across Australia. After all, pre-colonisation, we were an island of over 500 nations. Bula’Bula Arts, Durrmu Arts, Milingimbi Art and Culture, Moa Arts, Ngarrindjeri Weavers, and Tjanpi Desert Weavers.

It’s important for people to understand the essential contributions of First Nations artists and designers in education. We have visual cultures and traditions which have been practiced for millennia. Art and design is a way for us to share our stories our way, and to have our voices in the world. It’s a way for people to engage with ideas and perspectives they might not normally.

My hope for the future is for people to appreciate, nurture, listen and learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and practices. As the world’s oldest living culture, First Nations peoples are the first artists and designers, and have 65,000+ years of knowledge and experience behind us!