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(Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice 
PhD Exhibition, MADA Gallery, Melbourne 2025.


(Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice is a project that maps the intersections of Place, identity, and family, critically examining the encoded biases embedded within photographic technologies from an Indigenous perspective. Using a practice-led research approach, this project interrogates archival representations and explores the concept of photographs as entities with their own agency. By disrupting and subverting colonial approaches to image-making and mapping systems, (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice highlights the omission of significant Indigenous Knowledges. Guided by questions such as how decolonial cartography practices can reconnect family history and Stolen Generations to Pitta Pitta Country, the project examines the transformative potential of creative methodologies in addressing these themes. It explores how archival documents, particularly those from the Tindale Genealogical Collection, enable family mapping practices and strengthen ties to Country. Additionally, the research investigates how arts practices—spanning Spoken Word Yarning, photography, video, and performance—can facilitate connections with Ancestors and Pitta Pitta Country. Expanding Yarning methodologies through the integration of Spoken Word performance, the project offers a new lens to consider how arts practice can function as a form of mapping. Through these methods, (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Pra advances a decolonial framework for reclaiming history, story and identity, fostering relational accountability to Ancestors, community and Country.



Left to right, Install image of
  1. Dolly, 2021, digital pigment prints on cotton rag, 500mm x 690mm.
  2. Dolly, 2024, digital pigment prints on cotton rag, 500mm x 690mm.
  3. Pitta Pitta, 2023, 5m x 7m, digital pigment print on cotton rag.
Shown as part of (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice at MADA Gallery 2025. Photo by Andrew Curtis.


Left to right, install image of:
  1. Pitta Pitta (Google’s Earth), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280 mm.
  2. Pitta Pitta (Archived in the Google Earth Museum), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280 mm.
  3. Pitta Pitta (Published Without Permission), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280mm.
  4. Dear Dolly, With Love II, 2023. Video, 1 min 30 sec.
Shown as part of (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice at MADA Gallery 2025. Photo by Andrew Curtis.



Left to right, install image of:
  1. Pitta Pitta (Google’s Earth), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280 mm.
  2. Pitta Pitta (Archived in the Google Earth Museum), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280 mm.
  3. Pitta Pitta (Published Without Permission), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280mm.
Shown as part of (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice at MADA Gallery 2025. Photo by Andrew Curtis.



Left to right, install image of:  
  1. Dolly, 2021, digital pigment print on cotton rag, 500mm x 690mm
  2. Dolly, 2024, digital pigment print on cotton rag, 500mm x 690mm. 
  3. Pitta Pitta, 2023, 5m x 7m, digital pigment print on cotton rag.  
  4. Pitta Pitta (Google’s Earth), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280 mm. 
  5. Pitta Pitta (Archived in the Google Earth Museum), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280 mm.
  6. Pitta Pitta (Published Without Permission), 2022. Digital print on polyester film, aluminium light box, 280 x 280mm.
Shown as part of (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice at MADA Gallery 2025. Photo by Andrew Curtis.


Left to right, install image of: 
  1. wapa, wantili, irrhka, 2023. Video, 1 min 54 sec.
  2. Dear Dolly, With Love, 2023. Video, 1 min 30 sec.
  3. Dolly, 2021. Digital pigment print on cotton rag, 500 x 690 mm. 
  4. Dolly, 2024. Digital pigment print on cotton rag, 500 x 690 mm.
  5. Pitta Pitta, 2023, 5m x 7m, digital pigment print on cotton rag. 
Shown as part of (Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice at MADA Gallery 2025. Photo by Andrew Curtis.


I respectfully acknowledge the ongoing Custodians of the Lands, waters and skies where I work, live and travel. I extend my deep respect and gratitude to Elders, past and present and acknowledge their continuing connection to Country and community.
Always was and always will be.
[-o-]





All images Copyright © 2013 — 2025, Jahkarli Romanis. All rights reserved.