Taking to the stage at Sydney's first South by South West festival (SXSW) yesterday, award-winning designer, film producer and proud Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman, Alison Page spoke on how First Nations stories, ancient systems and knowledge are shaping the next 60,000 years of design.
Acting as the Associate Dean of Indigenous Leadership & Engagement in the Design Architecture and Building Faculty, at the University of Technology, Ms Page is also the founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency.
In addition to these roles, Ms Page is a Councillor with the Australian National Maritime Museum, Board Director of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, Art Gallery of South Australia, Aboriginal research group, Ninti One Ltd and with Aboriginal Hotels Limited.
With a career spanning more than 25 years, Page spoke on how her experience and insights with cultural knowledge have enabled her to comment on the future of contemporary design and its link to First Nations people and places.
Whilst Page believes that contemporary themes are paving the forward when it comes to design, she stands by her belief that it is indeed the ancient systems and knowledge that influences the creativity behind these modern ideas.
"We speak about country like it is a family member. "We have a dialogue to country on an everyday basis," Ms Page said.
Country includes the built environment and objects, which reflect both a conceptual and a physical process with ancestral and cultural dimensions.
Page strives to further reinforce the message that design does not just include garments and clothing but the land we live on. Land developments and the way Australia and the local government implement design transformations also heavily influence and impact First Nations people.
"If the landowners are not on board, you are pretty much wasting your time," she said.
The idea that everything starts and ends with Country is something Page also stands by strongly. Everything is part of a continuation, an endless flow of life and ideas emanating from country – often referred to as the Dreaming.
When it comes to contemporary design in both the fashion and creative industry, Page believes that it is when companies and organisations directly engage and communicate with Indigenous artists first-hand, that both parties truly benefit.
Using her 2006 collaboration with kitchen appliance brand Breville as an example, Page spoke on how herself and Breville's design and innovation director, Richard Hoare were both on the same page when striving to begin a conversation surrounding Indigenous art and the process of bringing it to life on products.
"When we step into a modern kitchen, it's easy to forget that our wondrous appliances - while efficient, convenient, practical and aesthetic - provide the same service that our ancient ancestor's campfires, grinding stones and stone age tools did over millennia," she said.
"Even their most basic tools for preparing food were layered with a 65,000-year history told through symbols and stories, which are painted, burned and etched into their objects.
"This is about keeping our culture alive, it's about everyone waking up in the morning making a coffee and travelling that country. It's about not ignoring that we live in a commercial society, but thinking of ways in which we can actually engage with this creative side."
Whilst predicting what the next 60,000 years of design will include is no easy task, Page is certain the culture, traditions and knowledge of our First Nations people will – and are – set the standard for an overarching shift in land developments, garment production and the way in which Australians view and understand the power of our land and it's First Nations people.
South by South West (SXSW) runs from October 15 to 22.
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