Tribal Design Forum organised an interactive session with Dr Danie Mellor – a leading contemporary artist and photographer from Australia on September 26. Tribal designers and creative professionals from different tribes across India, from the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur attended the talk.
The session was opened with an opening note by the Hon Barry O’Farrell, the High Commissioner of Australia to India who highlighted the proactive role of the Australian ecosystem in facilitating arts and culture of the indigenous people in Australia through notable steps like developing the International Indigenous Charter of Design. Dr Mellor, of indigenous origin himself, presented his unique work that captured the history and geography of the indigenous landscape of aboriginal Australians. The talk highlighted new techniques, methods and approach through which art could be used to present various narratives of indigenous communities, who usually have a rich and dominant oral tradition into eloquent visual forms.
Speaking after the event, Dr Mellor said, “It was a great discussion and a good opportunity to interact with indigenous designers from India. These interactive sessions could be an interesting pathway for other designers and makers in Australia to connect with indigenous Indian colleagues and seems like a great platform for sharing research and explore potential future collaboration between the indigenous creative communities in Australia and India.”
Dr Mellor is a board member of the Museum of Contemporary Arts Australia and has shown his work at some of the world’s leading museums and art galleries. Dr Danie Mellor is serving as an international jury member of the Tribal Heritage of India Photography Contest which the Tribal Design Forum is currently organizing. Apart from Dr Mellor, other indigenous photographers comprising the international jury panel are from Peru, Cook Islands and USA. Other photographers in the panel, from the Netherlands, Ecuador, Nigeria and India, have notable works with indigenous communities.
“The designers of the Tribal Design Forum meet fortnightly to learn from some of the world’s leading professionals on the best practices to work with tribal communities and/or work for the benefit of tribal communities. The interaction session with Dr Mellor was one such meeting which has allowed the tribal designers in Jharkhand to establish contact with Australian indigenous designers to explore possible future collaborations.’’ said Sudhir John Horo, the convenor of the forum.
