Trees, memorials, rivers and waterways serve as living archives – and this fresh perspective will be examined in the River Love Songs Public Symposium being conducted at the Flinders University Museum of Art on Friday 29 September, through the presentation of several panel discussions with leading First Nations artists and scholars from across Australia.

Through interviews and oral histories, this work will think about place and consider how to deal with the grief and loss through the living archive of Country.

As the first component of an ARC-funded project titled ‘Reimagining Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts’, the River Love Songs Public Symposium marks the final day of an intensive four-day workshop with acclaimed Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Pasifika artists and scholars from around Australia, who will be sharing their ideas and insights about honouring Country and collective decolonial movements that re-affirm the wellbeing, healing and sovereignty of First Nations communities.

Speakers include Flinders University’s Associate Professor Ali Gumillya Baker, Associate Professor Natalie Harkin, Professor Simone Ulalka Tur and Dr Faye Rosas Blanch.

The River Love Songs Public Symposium is funded by the Australian Research Council as part of the Discovery Indigenous project ‘Reimagining Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts’ project. This event is proudly co-convened by the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University, the Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA), Yungkurrinthi, Office of Indigenous Strategy and Engagement, Flinders University and Vitalstatistix.

For more information and to register for the event, click here.