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First Knowledges Design

Building on Country
By Alison Page and Professor Paul Memmott
Series: First Knowledges
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Check link for latest rating. ( 195 ratings, 21 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
First Knowledges: Design explores the rich traditions of Indigenous Australian design, delving into how cultural knowledge and practices shape spaces and objects. Authors Alison Page and Professor Paul Memmott examine the interplay between artistry, functionality, and sustainability, offering insights into how ancient perspectives influence modern design. This book serves as an educational resource, highlighting the significance of integrating Indigenous wisdom in contemporary contexts.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're interested in exploring Indigenous perspectives on design and how these ancient knowledges can address contemporary challenges. You'll appreciate insights into sustainable practices and an understanding of how traditional wisdom can innovate modern approaches in education and architecture.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Aboriginal design is of a distinctly cultural nature, based in the Dreaming and in ancient practices grounded in Country. It is visible in the aerodynamic boomerang, the ingenious design of fish traps, and the precise layouts of community settlements that strengthen social cohesion.

Alison Page and Paul Memmott show how these design principles of sophisticated function, sustainability, and storytelling, refined over many millennia, are now being applied to contemporary practices. Design: Building on Country issues a challenge for a new Australian design ethos, one that truly responds to the essence of Country and its people.

About the series: Each book is a collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers and editors; the series is edited by Margo Neale, senior Indigenous curator at the National Museum of Australia.

Other titles in the series include: Songlines by Margo Neale & Lynne Kelly (2020); Country by Bill Gammage & Bruce Pascoe (2021); Plants by Zena Cumpston, Michael Fletcher & Lesley Head (2022); Astronomy (2022); Law (2023).

Ebook available through all major etailers

Series: First Knowledges

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  • Caring for Country: First Knowledges for younger readers
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? Join writer and farmer Bruce Pascoe and historian Bill Gammage as they generously share their knowledge about the amazing way that First Nations people cared for Australia and how closely humans have been connected with nature for tens of thousands of years. From the...
    By Bruce Pascoe and William Leonard Gammage
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 1 week
  • First Knowledges Astronomy
    What do you need to know to prosper for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest scientists in human history. Many First Peoples regard the land as a reflection of the sky and the sky a reflection of...
    By Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 1 week
  • Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers
    How do you find your way around, get your food and drink, connect with your friends and family? How do you know the right and safe way to do things, or how to make things? Before the white people came to the continent, all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples knew how to do all these things - and...
    By Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly and Margo Ngawa Neale
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 1 week
  • First Knowledges Politics
    First Nations peoples of Australia are among the world's oldest political designers. For them, Country isn't just a place to live, it's part of the network of relationships that shape responsibilities, behaviour and decision-making—a template for living together. First Nations social and political systems balance individual freedom with a strong sense of responsibility and connection to others. By placing relationships...
    By Mary Graham and Morgan James Brigg
    Paperback
    $3299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • First Knowledges Country
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. For millennia, Indigenous Australians harvested this continent in ways that can offer contemporary environmental and economic solutions. Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe demonstrate how Aboriginal people cultivated the...
    By Bruce Pascoe and William Leonard Gammage
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Innovation
    ‘Deeply insightful, sensitive and passionate. An inspiring, meticulous picture of the innovations that have made us the world's oldest living culture.’ - Larissa Behrendt ‘Another fascinating volume in this landmark Australian publishing series.’ - Richard Flanagan What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding...
    By Ian J McNiven and Lynette Russell
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Law
    'Our Laws are forever present and provide the pathways for all Australians to truly learn how to belong to this continent.' - June Oscar 'No other current work has been able to so comprehensively explain the significance of traditional law in all its manifestations.' - Henry Reynolds Law is culture, and culture is law. Given by the ancestors and cultivated...
    By Aaron Corn and Marcia Langton
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Songlines
    Let this series begin the discussion. - Bruce Pascoe An act of intellectual reconciliation. - Lynette Russell Songlines are an archive for powerful knowledges that ensured Australia's many Indigenous cultures flourished for over 60,000 years. Much more than a navigational path in the cartographic sense, these vast and robust stores of information are encoded through song, story, dance, art and...
    By Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Plants
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. Plants are the foundation of life on Earth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have always known this to be true. For millennia, reciprocal relationships with plants have...
    By Michael-Shawn Fletcher and Lesley Head and Zena Cumpston
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Design
    Aboriginal design is of a distinctly cultural nature, based in the Dreaming and in ancient practices grounded in Country. It is visible in the aerodynamic boomerang, the ingenious design of fish traps, and the precise layouts of community settlements that strengthen social cohesion. Alison Page and Paul Memmott show how these design principles of sophisticated function, sustainability, and storytelling, refined...
    By Alison Page and Professor Paul Memmott
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Ceremony
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deep understanding of the expertise, wisdom and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. We perform ceremonies every day. Some are personal, some highly organised, and others are repeated for generations. For First Nations Australians, ceremonies create the backbone of cultural...
    By Wesley Enoch and Georgia Curran
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • First Knowledges Health
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deep understanding of the expertise, wisdom and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians.For thousands of generations the wellbeing of Australia's First Peoples was grounded in the sacred lands of Mother Earth. Good health occurred naturally because lifestyle and diet were...
    By Shawana Andrews and Fiona Stanley and Sandra Eades
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

First Knowledges Design is praised for advancing the understanding of the interconnectedness of nature, land, sea, sky, humans, and their creations. It emphasises the importance of recognising design and architecture as dynamic processes, underscoring the need to deeply understand Country and its Songlines.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781760761400

Publisher: Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 April 2021

Country: Australia

Imprint: Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd

Contributors:

  • Edited by Margo Neale
  • Edited by Margo Ngawa Neale

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 236g

Pages: 240

Collections

Alison Page Arts & Culture Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Professor Paul Memmott Series: First Knowledges

About the Author

Alison Page is a Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman from Tharawal and Yuin nations. She is an award winning designer, artist and film producer whose career links Indigenous stories and traditional knowledge with contemporary design. She is Associate Dean at the University of Technology, Sydney's Design Architecture and Building Faculty.

Paul Memmott is a descendant of Scottish potters and painters. He has had a 50-year life experience and career working as an architect, anthropologist and agent for change with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia. He is a transdisciplinary researcher based at University of Queensland, recognising the need to join with Indigenous communities and organisations to bring transformative approaches to improving quality of lifestyle and wellbeing in the face of longitudinal disadvantage and the endeavour for self-determination. One of his books, Gunyah, Goondie + Wurley: The Aboriginal Architecture of Australia, won three national book awards.

Also by Alison Page

View all
  • Design & Building on Country: First Knowledges for younger readers
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? Join designer and artist Alison Page alongside anthropologist and architect Paul Memmott as they share some of the incredible inventions created by the oldest continuing culture in the world. With striking colour illustrations from Archibald Prize-winning artist Blak Douglas. The First Knowledges series for...
    By Alison Page and Professor Paul Memmott
    Other book format
    Sold Out

Also by Professor Paul Memmott

View all
  • Design & Building on Country: First Knowledges for younger readers
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? Join designer and artist Alison Page alongside anthropologist and architect Paul Memmott as they share some of the incredible inventions created by the oldest continuing culture in the world. With striking colour illustrations from Archibald Prize-winning artist Blak Douglas. The First Knowledges series for...
    By Alison Page and Professor Paul Memmott
    Other book format
    Sold Out

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