Combining technology and art to celebrate Indigenous stories | Yolonde Entsch | TEDxBrisbane
The speaker describes a journey of cultural exchange in Jumiji, initially through pottery, which evolved into creating decorative goanna tiles and eventually establishing a digital storytelling platform using QR codes. This initiative allows the community's artwork to connect with the world by allowing outside visitors to view the artist's story upon scanning a tile. The overarching goal is to use modern technology to honor and sustain the cultural output of the First Nations people. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker is a social entrepreneur. - Setting for the initial work: a remote Aboriginal community in Jumiji, located near the border of Queensland and the Northern Territory. - The speaker's initial concern in February 2017 was establishing rapport and understanding what activities the women in the community desired. - The community, Jumiji, is located alongside the picturesque Nicholson River, where crocodile sightings and fishing for dinner are common activities. ## Theses & Positions - Meaning and purpose for the women in the community must be identified through direct engagement and listening to their interests. - Cultural activities, like pottery, are highly desired within the community and can serve as economic and cultural anchors. - Technology, specifically QR codes, can be leveraged as a means to share the stories and art of emerging artists from remote Indigenous communities globally. - The project aims to provide a respectful and marketable way for the community to showcase its art—such as goanna tiles—to the world. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Social Entrepreneur:** The speaker's professional field, involving community engagement for tangible outcomes. - **Goanna Tiles:** Clay tiles cut and decorated in the shape of goannas, which are part of a larger wave installation at the Jumiji airport terminal. - **QR Code:** Technology used to link a physical object (like a tile) to a digital story, allowing users with smartphones to access audio/visual narratives. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Initial Engagement:** Shared a project about making care bags for women in isolated Papua New Guinea villages to build trust. - **Activity Identification:** Community members initiated the idea of restarting a local pottery studio, previously run by locals in Jumiji. - **Project Pivot:** Faced funding setbacks for pottery, leading to the simpler, locally resonant creation of goanna tiles, inspired by the local tradition of hunting and eating goannas. - **Technology Integration:** Used the concept of a photographer's mural app (which linked photos to stories) to adapt the storytelling mechanism for art. - **Storytelling Delivery:** Installing tiles with embedded QR codes that, when scanned, allow listeners to hear the story of the specific artist/artwork and learn about life in Jumiji. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Before Feb 2017:** Speaker prepared for arrival in the Aboriginal community. - **February 2017:** Arrived in Jumiji, feeling concerned about building rapport. - **Early period (after arrival):** Successfully shared a project concept (Papua New Guinea care bags) which led the women to initiate interest in pottery. - **Subsequent period:** Pottery studio began; Felicity Berry was brought in to lead workshops. - **By December 2018:** Funding opportunity secured; the goanna tile project commenced. - **Current state:** Tiles are being created and installed at the Jumiji airport terminal. ## Named Entities - **Jumiji:** The remote Aboriginal community setting. - **Queensland/Northern Territory:** Geographical border location of Jumiji. - **Nicholson River:** Picturesque river running through Jumiji. - **Papua New Guinea:** Location of the initial comparable care bag project. - **Felicity Berry:** Well-known Australian potter brought in to work with the community for a week. - **78 dormitory residents:** Group involved in putting in the successful funding application in December 2018. - **Goanna:** Animal whose tails inspire the decorative tiles; hunted and eaten by local folks. - **Jumiji airport terminal:** Location where the goanna tiles are currently installed. ## Numbers & Data - Approximate population of Jumiji: **1200 people**. - Pottery workshop attendance: Over **100 people** passed through in four and a half days. - Number of pottery pieces made: Over **120 pieces**. - Funding application support: Help from **78 dormitory residents**. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Clay:** Material used for the goanna tiles. - **Goanna Tiles:** The physical product, decorated and installed at the airport terminal. - **QR Codes:** Low-cost, easy-to-use technology for digitally linking art to narrative. - **Smartphone:** The required device for the visitor to scan the code and access the story. ## References Cited - **Papua New Guinea:** Location of the initial care bag project model. - **French photographer JR:** Photographer whose app concept inspired the digital storytelling mechanism. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Pottery Studio (Alternative):** Abandoned due to a lack of available funds to continue the project. - **Goanna Tiles (Chosen Path):** Chosen for being simple, easy to engage the entire community regardless of age or perceived talent, and having a direct local connection (goanna hunting). - **Art Display:** Transitioning from static, in-person display (airport terminal) to digital global reach (scanning tiles). ## Methodology - **Community Needs Assessment:** Initiated by observing and engaging with the women to identify desired activities. - **Art Form Selection:** Pivoted from complex pottery to simpler, resonant goanna tile crafting due to funding constraints. - **Story Capture:** Developed a hybrid system marrying physical artwork (tiles) with digital narrative delivery (QR codes) to facilitate global storytelling. - **Future Goal:** Establishing a mechanism to sell the goanna tiles internationally, linked to their story via QR codes. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The initiative provides a public and permanent way for Jumiji artists to share their stories and work within the community (airport terminal). - The ultimate recommendation/goal is establishing a viable, global e-commerce channel for the unique, handmade goanna tiles, allowing buyers anywhere to connect directly with the maker's story. ## Implications & Consequences - The project transforms local cultural activities into a sustainable economic and cultural conduit. - Storytelling through accessible technology can bridge the gap between remote Indigenous art and international art appreciation, allowing the artist's voice to travel with the physical object. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I'll never forget that day that i got off that plane in 2017."* - *"Yolandi that's something that we want to do."* - *"Could I bring up a really well-known cans potter felicity berry to work with the community for a week."* - *"Over a hundred people came through our pottery doors and they made over 120 pieces of pottery."* - *"We wanted to keep it simple we wanted it to be easy we wanted to be able to engage the whole community regardless of their age regardless of how talented they thought they were."* - *"When you land on a plane what you are greeted with are these exquisite tiles."* - *"We're not the first to think of qr codes as a way of capturing stories but this allows us to share the stories of our artists in dumaji."* - *"And with it a qr code you scan that code and you are taken straight to domaji where you get to hear a little bit from the person who made that goanna."* - *"i mean it's almost like being in an art gallery but you're doing it in your own home or in the community of dumaji."*