Deakin University has appointed Jefa Greenaway (pictured left) and Alison Page (pictured right) as its new Honorary Fellows of Design, who will both implement Indigenous knowledge and design thinking into the university’s teaching and learning programs and research activities.
Both Fellows are regarded as leaders in the fields of Indigenous design, architecture and filmmaking. Their appointment will see a number of the university’s faculties and schools involved in a series of collaborative programs.
Vanessa Lemm, Deakin’s Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Education, says the appointments will give the university unlevelled access to vital cultural knowledge and advice.
“Building our Indigenous knowledge capacity is important as we move to develop Indigenous Knowledge Minors across courses in the Faculty of Arts and Education,” she says.
Page is a Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman and award-winning designer and film producer. Inducted into the Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame in 2015, Page’s creative practice explores links between cultural identity, art and the built environment. Additionally, Page is the Founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency and is a member of the expert panel for the federal government’s Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous People.
Jefa Greenaway is a Wailwan and Kamilaroi man and champion of Indigenous design practices for over two decades. The architect is a Director of Greenaway Architects and works as a Knowledge Broker and Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne. His practice includes projects such as the Lowitja Institute, the Koorie Heritage Trust, design principles for Aboriginal Housing Victoria and the Wilin Centre at the VCA and the new Student Precinct, as part of a Lyons lead consortia team at the University of Melbourne. Greenaway sits on various boards, advisory panels, and government committees and is the co-founder of Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria. Greenaway followed Page’s lead in 2020 when he was Inducted into the Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame.
Matthew Delbridge, Deakin’s Head of School Communication and Creative Arts, says both Page and Greenaway have a proven track record of embedding traditional cultural knowledge into contemporary design.
“They both share a quest for change which uses design to respectfully recalibrate the Australian identity as the home of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures,” he says.
The new Honorary Fellows have been involved in the development of the Deakin-created, Indigenous Design Charters. Page consulted on its development and facilitated a workshop at the Koorie Heritage Trust, while Greenaway co-authored the Indigenous Charter with Russell Kennedy, Associate Professor Meghan Kelly and Brian Martin (Bundjalung, Muruwari and Kamilaroi).
As well as this, the pair are working with Deakin academics on current Indigenous themed research projects including the Melbourne and Cranbourne Botanical Gardens wayfinding project, The INBETWEEN exhibition at Nyaal (part of Geelong Design Week), Earth Above Science Works Planetarium project and National Gallery of Victoria Indigenous Design protocols project.
Their appointment will be officially announced at the launch of the INBETWEEN Exhibition at Nyaal, Waurn Ponds campus, Friday, 25 March 2022 at 3.00pm.
