Shellie Smith – EVOLVING INVOLVEMENT : MAPPING COLLABORATION

This workshop will be based on ideas of material manipulation, sharing of knowledge and the relationships built as part of community labour, as discussed in the video: Restoring the Coorong Tradition: Aboriginal design and technology – The Stringy-Bark Canoe.

Shellie is an 8th generation Novocastrian, tracing her family history back through 7 generations of women to the time of Newcastle’s colonial settlement and the last of the Awabakal people to live a traditional life. She uses a combination of research and art practice to reconnect to her aboriginal heritage.
A graduate of Architecture, Shellie specialised in heritage conservation, working extensively on projects around Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Lower Hunter before moving to Canberra to join the Commonwealth Governments Heritage Branch.
Shellie has a love for living history and uses a combination of personal story and the interpretation of art and weaving objects to make the traditional/historical relatable to our lives today.