About

The Project

This former project, Ad(dressing) Indigeneity: identity, healing, and social change through clothing, fashion, and style, unpacks the stories behind First Nations fashion, art, and dress.

By exploring the fashion and dress of First Nations people, we can engage in truth-telling and gain a deeper understanding of our shared histories.

Fashion can assist in our well-being and contribute to social change. This research focused on urban areas and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ ways of dressing in these environments.

This project gathered stories and research through interviews, visual materials, and historical texts. The project contributed the stories and findings to academic texts, blogs and articles, social media channels, presentations, and exhibitions.

Managed by Aboriginal (Kokatha/Wirangu) researcher Dr Treena Clark and previously funded by the University of Technology Sydney under the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellowship.

Acknowledgements

As Indigenous-led research, this project aimed to follow cultural practices and ways of reciprocity. I would like to thank the following groups and individuals for their incredible knowledges, guidance, and support.

Project advisory group of several First Nations people and allies: The members live in (or near) Sydney/Warrane, Melbourne/Naarm, and Adelaide/Tarntanya and work across universities, communications, fashion, and health. They helped support the development of the topic and provided advice around the research. The advisory group members included Professor Jason De Santolo, Associate Professor Vicki Couzens, Associate Professor Yvonne Clark, and Yatu Widders Hunt.

Traditional Owners and Councils: From regions in Sydney/Warrane, Melbourne/Naarm, and Adelaide/Tarntanya, Traditional Owners and Councils supported and advised on approvals and collaborations.

Knowledge Holders/research participants: The First Nations Knowledge Holders/research participants contributed to the research through storytelling, consent, feedback and co-authorship.

Elders and community members: These individuals contributed valuable mentoring sessions and yarns to the project.