NiTRO + Creative Matters

Perspectives on creative arts in higher education

Celebrating Indigenous Creative Pedagogies in the Northern Territory

BY ALY DE GROOT, AMANDA MORRIS, LARISSA PICKALLA AND LUCY STEWART — At Charles Darwin University (CDU), the Academy of the Arts (with campuses in Darwin and Alice Springs) is learning to work closely with First Nations communities, students, artists and educators.

We aim to develop a two-way Arts Academy in collaboration with First Nations arts educators, supporting learning and qualifications for Indigenous students, recognising existing creative/cultural expertise, and for non-Indigenous students learning about Indigenous knowledges. 

At this early stage, there are four initiatives to share:

  1. Collaboration between Visual Arts lecturers in Mparntwe and First Nations communities

An active visual arts workshop program has connected Indigenous communities to CDU in Central Australia for decades, including on-campus and remote delivery. Training plans responsive to requests and interests are co-constructed with communities. 

The long-standing collaboration with the Hermannsburg Potters of Ntaria is based on shared expertise in ceramics. The Potters undertake certificate-level training with CDU and also share their knowledge with others through workshops and visits such as ‘native clay’ Indigenous artist Clarence Cruz from New Mexico. CDU’s Alice Springs art studios have developed a unique partnership with the Purple House, an innovative Indigenous-owned and run health service operating from its base in Alice Springs with 18 remote clinics and a mobile dialysis unit called the Purple Truck. The ceramics group runs weekly, with regular sold-out exhibitions. At the same time, the lecturers run art workshops leading to vocational qualifications for local communities. In 2024, this included the Tapatjatjaka Art and Craft centre in Titjikala, with Walpiri town camp and with Children’s Ground, for the Arrernte ‘8 skin names’ screen printing project. Skin names represent a complex kinship system and can act as personal identifiers. They connect families across generations and to cultural responsibilities (Central Land Council, Every Hill Got a Story)

CDU’s status as a dual-sector university means there are pathways for students with vocational arts certificates to enter higher degrees, which is helpful for Indigenous students who are often first-in-family to study at university.

  1. A new Creative Arts degree in 2025, engaging students with First Nations artists

CDU’s new Bachelor of Creative Arts asks students to consider how place informs their creative practice. The Arts Academy works with First Nations artists to teach and co-design learning materials, case studies, and field trips, engaging students in creative responses to place and learning from First Nations artists. We seek guidance from Senior Elders such as CDU’s Larrakia Academic-in-Residence, Dr. Aunty Bilawara Lee, when connecting with Larrakia artists, including this year with Nadine Lee, and from local artists, guides, and cultural centres on field trips (e.g. to Kakadu National Park).

  1. Collaboration with the First Nations Education Hub 

This year, the Arts Academy will collaborate with CDU’s First Nations Education Hub (led by Larissa Pickalla) to incorporate creative arts units within new teacher training degrees for First Nations people. The creative arts units recognise the cultural expertise that many First Nations trainee-teachers already possess. These units will provide a supportive trajectory through higher education, with assessments privileging communication through art, songs, performance, and storytelling rather than written assignments in English (for many First Nations students in the NT, English is not their first language).

  1. The Pedagogy of Indigenous Knowledge Sharing through Creative and Cultural Practices

Funded by the Department of Education and supported by CDU’s First Nations Sovereignty and Diplomacy Centre in 2023-24, this postgraduate micro-credential offers professional development for teachers. The offering is timely, given that the national curriculum requires teachers to embed First Nations perspectives in their teaching. 

The course provides a learning journey to understand Indigenous artists as storytellers and teachers, sharing their knowledge through art-making, with sessions focused on Place, People, Community, Story, and Diplomacy.

Weekly guests and case studies provide a platform for Indigenous artists to speak about their work and reflect on the importance of their art-making, performances, and storytelling in knowledge transmission, showing holistic ways of teaching and knowing about place and environment, people and community, language, and communication. 

The course embraces the challenges of online delivery for Indigenous creative pedagogies where learning through the senses by doing, making, sharing, and reflecting is critical. Students engage with First Nations artists and each other in interactive online sessions and media-rich content illustrates creative work. Opportunities for in-person and virtual field trips are available. For example, Dr. Aly de Groot (course facilitator) worked with master fibre artists in Gapuwiyak on textiles and fashion workshops, and the online students participated in virtual sessions with the Gapuwiyak artists.

Students from Tapatjatjaka Art and Craft Centre in Titjikala develop drawing skills for Certificate II in Visual Arts in Alice Springs, 2024.

Student testimonials

‘This course was an absolute FEAST! I so deeply enjoyed the opportunity to be immersed in First Nations art, culture and the amazing diversity of identities across Australia. The course content really helped me to reflect on the role I can play as an ally to support my community and workplace…‘

‘The course was beautifully designed. I gained such confidence in doing the course I’ve now enrolled in a Master of Education, starting today!’

CDU’s Academy of the Arts is poised to deepen its engagement with Indigenous creative pedagogies in 2025. We acknowledge and celebrate the many inspiring First Nations artists, educators, and arts organisations, who have worked with us on these initiatives so far.

Further information:  artsacademy@cdu.edu.au

Dr. Aly de Groot, Visual Arts Lecturer at Charles Darwin University, champions Indigenous knowledge sharing through creative practices. She received a CDU Alumni Award for Industry Excellence. Dr. de Groot facilitates a new postgraduate microcredential connecting Indigenous artists across the Northern Territory. Her diverse career includes educating at Batchelor Institute, coordinating Anindilyakwa Arts, and working as a self-employed artist. Collaborations include co-creating public artworks with Larrakia Elder Aunty Bilawarra Lee. A 2023 Churchill Fellow, she studied endangered basket-making in Europe and the UK. Her dedication to fibre arts was recognized with a 2023 National Indigenous Fashion Award for Community Collaboration, shared with Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts master weavers.

Associate Professor Amanda Morris is Discipline Lead for Humanities and Director of Charles Darwin University’s Academy of the Arts, which is committed to supporting the next generation of creative practitioners, working in collaboration with the creative sector and informed by Indigenous communities across the Northern Territory. Amanda is known for innovative arts programs in the Asia Pacific region, having held leadership roles as Executive Director Conservatoire at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), as Dean, Faculty of Performing Arts at LASALLE College of the Arts (now University of the Arts Singapore) and as Director, Centre for Fine Arts, Music and Theatre at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 

Larissa Pickalla is a proud Yuin woman, educator, and researcher dedicated to increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers and growing the next generation of First Nations educational leaders. As the Director of the First Nation Teacher Education Hub at Charles Darwin University, she works collaboratively with communities, universities, and government stakeholders to strengthen culturally responsive teacher education. With a background in youth work and teaching, Larissa is passionate about embedding First Nations perspectives in education and ensuring community voices are central to shaping teacher education programs. Her research focuses on co-designing culturally responsive teacher education initiatives and exploring sustainable partnership models for First Nations teacher education across Australia and internationally.

Lucy Stewart is CDU’s Lecturer, Visual Arts & Arts Administration, based in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). An artist, arts administrator, and educator, Lucy’s passion is working within culturally rich settings to progress engaged and creative regional communities. She has experience across arts organisations including Araluen Arts Centre, Desart, Arts NT, Central Craft, and Red Hot Arts. Her practice spans media art, ceramics, and community cultural development. For 20-plus years she has facilitated arts projects supporting increased awareness of Mparntwe sacred sites: most significantly the Yeperenye Sculpture at the Araluen Cultural Precinct and the Alice to Mparntwe Sacred Sites Tours for Artists running since 2007, coordinated with senior custodian Doris Stuart Kngwarreye and artist Dan Murphy. Lucy is undertaking a creative PhD focused on custodian storytelling as a tool for arts-based social action. 

Main image: In 2024, Dr. Aly de Groot, worked with master fibre artists in Gapuwiyak on textiles and fashion design workshops, with virtual sessions engaging students from the online course, The Pedagogy of Indigenous Knowledge Sharing through Creative and Cultural Practices.

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