Education

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art in the Classroom #17

Thu 15 Jan, 2026

9am - 3pm
Ticketed
Radford Auditorium

$130 TRT, Pre-service, and Department for Education teachers, $150 member, $160 non member

All educators
Book

Led by Aboriginal artists and curators, this professional development workshop provides educators with suggestions on incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists into the classroom in a meaningful and culturally appropriate way. Learn about the way relationships between people, culture and country for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can be conveyed through works of art.

This workshop includes:

  • Gallery tour with Prof Lisa Slade, Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.
  • Presentation and workshop led by Education Manager, Kylie Neagle
  • Talk and workshop with Ngarrindjeri artist Tiarnie Edwards
  • Lunch and morning tea

Image: Tiarnie Edwards, photo by Cara O'Dowd

About Tiarnie Edwards

Tiarnie Edwards is a Ngarrindjeri artist born in Kaurna Yarta in 1998. Raised on Nauo Country in the Lower Eyre Peninsula they grew up in the small sea side community of Tulka. By the end of 2020 they moved back to Kaurna Country to study a Bachelor of Contemporary Art at the University of South Australia, graduating in 2023, and going on to participate in the 2024 Helpmann Graduate Exhibition as well as the Hatched 2024 Graduate Exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art.

Tiarnie started working with ceramics in 2022 for the first time whilst studying at University and ceramics has become a core focus of their artwork. Their practice focuses on themes of identity, culture, history, politics, and activism and the intersectional way these fields overlap within complex and diverse identities within contemporary Australian life, particularly Aboriginal Identities. Tiarnie utilizes the universal language of visual knowledge to connect audiences to their narrative works, using humour and history to tell the stories of community and individuals. Their contemporary artworks explore the preservation of history and identities through storytelling.