New Indigenous jewellery workshop kicks off this week!

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is delighted to announce that the pilot of a new Contemporary Indigenous Craft and Design Workshop Program is now under way with a fantastic group of local artists spending the week at the ANU School of Art and Design Gold and Silversmithing workshop under the expert guidance of contemporary jewellers, Melinda Young and Alison Jackson, and Curator and Writer-in-Residence, Emily McCulloch Childs.

A huge thank you to Creative Partnerships Australia, the ANU School of Art and Design, the Indigenous Jewellery Project, Kemarre Arts and the following people (and anonymous donors) who have made this project possible: Graham Humphries, Robert Fenderson, Karen Wood, Sam Bryant, Alfonso del Rio, Cox Architecture, Helen O'Neil, Marylou Pooley, Andrew Collins, Susan Rutter, Alison Limb, Penleigh & Robyn Boyd, Peter Nolan, Adam Stankevicius, Sue Terry, David & Margaret Williams, Valerie Odewahn, Anne Daly, Rebecca Thorpe, Kerrie Bryant, Virginia McLeod, Anne Masters, Cecelia, Lynn, Winnie Ho, Ian Hodgson, Alison Roach, Andrew Pickering, Andrea Ho, Annemieke Mulders, Sylvia Carr, Christine Nicholson, Kate Nixon, Kaet Lovell, Colin Parks, Caroline Wolfs, Janet DeBoos, Maria Tallarida, Stephanie von Gavel, Susan Hill, Bradley Thomas, Tarale Alcock, Cindy Young, Sandra Marks, Carolyn Ludovici, Lyn Valentine, Noel Will, Erin Lowther, Tim Hollo, Rachael Coghlan, Claire Reece, Alison Alder, Meredith Hinchliffe, Rebecca Richards, Jacqui Malins, Grace Blakeley-Carroll, Zoe Brand, Sarah Murphy, Madisyn Zabel, Jo Paul, Gabriele New, Robin Poke, Caren Florance, Daniel Ballantyne, Zoe Slee, Sheridan Burnett, Richilde Flavell and Tracy Hopkirk.

We feel so fortunate to be part of a progressive community who is both committed to reconciliation and appreciates the value in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts’ contribution to Australia’s diverse contemporary culture and national identity.

A little bit about the project

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre has partnered with acclaimed visual artist and writer Jenni Kemarre Martiniello (Kemarre Arts) and the Indigenous Jewellery Project to help create opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and raise the profile of contemporary Indigenous art and design.

This exciting collaboration will pilot a new artist residency and a series of jewellery making workshops. The residency will be offered to an established Indigenous artist who wants to further develop a craft and design practice. For Indigenous artists in the Canberra region, the Indigenous Jewellery Project will present a new program of jewellery making workshops.

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre acknowledges the Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the ACT and surrounding areas. We honour and respect their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this country and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We also acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that have made Canberra their home and we aim to respect cultural heritage, customs and beliefs of all Indigenous people.