Australian Indigenous sensory knowledge systems in creative practices

Abstract

The process of making is transmitting knowledge through an act of doing. Perceiving the body as a multisensory being pushes Australian Aboriginal artistic encounters that challenge other ways of thinking and doing. This article explores the nexus between Indigenous knowledge and creative practice as an embodied theoretical framework based on the human senses that may assist artists in deconstructing their current conventical thinking and broaden their interaction by deeply connecting with self and the environment. This article aims to highlight Indigenous practice-based methodologies that can inform the artist to practice research and teaching resources. Examining Indigenous creative knowledge systems can enable artists to experience not only an acquisition of content of Indigenous practices but develop a unique methodological Indigenous approach to how our senses offer a valuable contribution to the making experience.

Keywords

• indigenous methodology
• creative making
• human senses
• imagination
• intuition