Statement of Acknowledgement
The INDIAN OCEAN CRAFT TRIENNIAL INC. (IOTA) is based in Boorloo/Perth in Western Australia, on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We honour the Noongar Nation for their enduring and continuing spiritual care of country, and respect Elders, past, present, and emerging. IOTA recognises the traditional custodians of the lands, skies, and waters that the participating artists and artisans represent.
VISION
IOTA is a distinctive and influential organisation which nurtures, promotes, innovates, and educates widely about traditional and contemporary craft practice and artisan skills around the Indian Ocean region resulting in culturally aware and connected communities.
PURPOSE
IOTA curates a triennial event in Western Australia to showcase exemplary contemporary craft by artists and artisans from countries around the Indian Ocean Region, including First Nations Australians.
IOTA and invited curators actively:
- Enhance and establish networks and exchanges between artisans and arts organisations.
- Seek and engage artists and artisans who express traditions, knowledge, stories, and vital skills through the medium of contemporary craft.
- Nurture artists and artisans to develop and create ambitious work.
- Design and deliver programs to grow audiences for contemporary craft in the IOR.
- Provide opportunities to build capacity within local and regional curatorial practice.
- Secure and activate ethical partnerships with government, corporate and philanthropic entities.
- Administer all funds professionally with transparency and full disclosure as required.
IOTA was formed to promote the craft sector’s economic, artistic, and cultural assets within an international landscape. As a not-for-profit incorporated association, IOTA works within the requirements of the Associations Incorporation Act 2015 Western Australia.
Values
The IOTA team is guided by the principles of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our culture is one in which everyone in the organisation feels responsible and accountable for upholding these values in how they work and behave.
Respect
We acknowledge that cultural traditions, knowledge and experiences shape us all. IOTA strives to create safe spaces to allow meaningful expressions. Expanding our knowledge of the region’s multiple histories and contemporary challenges underpins our approach.
Social Responsibility
Around the Indian Ocean and within Australia, IOTA is mindful of our obligation to maintain public trust through ethical and transparent operations, transactions and relationships, with people and places.
Sustainability
We recognise that mitigating climate change and environmental damage is everyone’s responsibility. IOTA consciously adopts practical and technological solutions where possible to reduce our carbon footprint and pollution, and to protect biodiversity. Operating a lean organisation, being mindful of our risks, and open to change is understood to support our resilience and sustainability.
Collaboration & Inclusion
This is central to how we research and facilitate dialogue with organisations, partners and individuals to strengthen the voice of the handmade and to co-design our program.
BACKGROUND
The first Indian Ocean Craft Triennial in 2021 was a resounding success bringing together over 130,000 artists, artisans, galleries, supporters and participants from around the Indian Ocean Rim and in Western Australia.[1]
Under-pinning this craft triennial’s philosophy is an acknowledgement by the IOTA team that the region has a deep history of traditional culture and knowledge, skills and experiences that could be better appreciated in Australia and connected across the region.
IOTA seeks to address this by presenting the extraordinary work of contemporary artists and artisans from around the region; particularly those who build on the traditional skills and mediums of craft practices.
In proposing curatorial themes, IOTA recognises that people working in contemporary craft traverse a precarious pathway both socially and economically. Yet tangible agency through the hand-made is visible throughout our region. Optimism, resourcefulness, and fortitude are sustained through pandemics, environmental disasters, political and economic uncertainty, bias, or inequity.
Despite such challenges, skilled makers, artists and designers are adept at balancing multiple factors to support a livelihood and tell their stories. Adaptation through ethical sourcing of materials, adopting new technologies, entering new markets, and devising new ways of working are foremost in these times. Twenty-first century ingenuity often arises from innovation in response to adversity.
We wish to provide an innovative space where these efforts are acknowledged, documented, and valued on an international platform for creative dialogue.
For the 2024 iteration, IOTA will continue this quest. We invite artists, artisans, and collaborations to respond to the curatorial theme for IOTA24.
[1] IOTA21 Impact Summary https://indianoceancrafttriennial.com/iota21-impact-summary/