UPLANDS - Art, Culture, Country.

Entry Description

Agency has partnered with over 20 remote First Nations Art Centres to create UPLANDS - an immersive digital resource that celebrates and shares Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic and cultural practices with the world.

The first resource of this kind for the Indigenous Visual Art sector, audiences are invited to explore the “digital twins” of participating Art Centres, which are important spaces of culture, art, community and economy. Embedded within these twins are the voices and perspectives of more than 150 Indigenous artists and arts workers.

This two-year project has been funded by the Australian Government through the Restart to Invest, Sustain and Expand (RISE) program and the Indigenous Visual Art Industry Support (IVAIS) program.

Devised in partnership with Art Centres in response to the Digital Divide, UPLANDS aims to stimulate economy, engage audiences and build a platform that has the potential to grow and interface with major cultural and educational institutions across the world.

Participating Art Centres include: Anindilyakwa Arts (Groote Eylandt), Bábbarra Women's Centre (Maningrida), Bula’bula Arts (Ramingining), Durrmu Arts (Peppimenarti), Ernabella Arts (APY Lands), Gapuwiyak Culture & Arts (Gapuwiyak), Hermannsburg Potters (Hermannsburg), Ikuntji Artists (Haasts Bluff), Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands (Alice Springs), Jilamara Arts & Crafts (Melville Island), Kaiela Arts (Shepparton), Mangkaja Arts (Fitzroy Crossing), Marrawuddi Arts & Culture (Jabiru), Martumili Artists (Newman), Milingimbi Arts & Culture (Milingimbi Island), Munupi Arts & Crafts (Melville Island), Spinifex Arts Project (Tjuntjuntjarra), Tangentyere Artists (Alice Springs), Waringarri Aboriginal Arts (Kununarra), Waralyirti Artists (Balgo), Yarrenyty Arltere Artists (Alice Springs).

Agency partnered with leading Melbourne immersive tech company Phoria to “map” the art centres, and engaged the services of Terri Janke & Company to work with the partnering Art Centres to develop the ICIP protocols for the project. Digital design agency Pondr and leading branding agency Studio Ongarato were engaged to build and enhance the user experience.