First Nations architect named recipient of Paris creative residency

Powerhouse Parramatta and the Cité Internationale des Arts have revealed the recipients of the 2024 galang residency program, which provides First Nations creative practitioners with the opportunity to undertake two intensive three-month residencies in Paris.

Sydney-based Worimi and Biripi guri architect Jack Gillmer and multidisciplinary Yuggera and Biri artist from Brisbane, Jody Rallah, have been selected to participate in the 2024 program.

The galang residency selection panel consisted of Powerhouse Associate, Wiradjuri artist writer and curator Brook Garru Andrew, head of the residency department at the Cité internationale des arts Vincent Gonzalvez, and Powerhouse associate director First Nations Beau James. They commended Gillmer and Rallah's proposed projects, commenting that they would "inspire conversations about restitution and accessibility in the cultural sector."

Gillmer, an architect at SJB, will travel to Paris in July. He has long been a proponent of including Country and First Nations voices in architectural and design practice.

During his residency, Gillmer will investigate the display and treatment of Indigenous artefacts and collections, reckoning with the colonial history of museology and the future of acquiring and exhibiting cultural materials. He will also study the concept of a "Global off-Country Keeping Place" for cultural materials undergoing repatriation or lacking an on-Country Keeping Place.

The program will assist him in initiating conversations with institutions about restitution. Furthermore, it will seek to support him with his objective of "decolonising" museology through the introduction of a framework or set of design principles that empower First Nations communities to reshape historical and colonial narratives.

Gillmer said it feels surreal to have been chosen. "I'm ecstatic, encouraged, and positively assertive. The residency provides support to continue the exploration of my personal and professional drivers, giving agency, opportunity and voice to Traditional Custodians in areas that are inherently colonial," he said.

"Using architecture as a medium of investigation, I'm excited to see the potential this will have on defining an approach to architecture and museology to Indigenise practices."

Rallah will commence her residency in May 2024. She will develop work that reflects her research into the application of Braille and other tactile language systems to intimate and collaborative haptic artmaking approaches. Beyond her investigation of tactile communication methods, she aims to broaden her knowledge of how the built environment, architecture, and curated recreational spaces can be used for cultural preservation.

For more information about the 2024 galang residency program, visit the Powerhouse website.