The IOTA Craft Co-Lab brings together curators from across the Indian Ocean region to share ideas through a day of conversations with makers, cultural leaders and thinkers.
Guided by IOTA’s ethos of dialogue and collaboration, the Co-Lab highlights craft as both a carrier of ancestral knowledge and a catalyst for new cultural imaginaries, creating space for shared learning.
The symposium will explore how craft connects ancestry, technology, identity, and community and is an opportunity to hear directly from the IOTA27 Curatorium as they introduce the theme/s that will guide the next Triennial.
Tuesday 4 November 2025 at Curtin 137 St Georges Terrace, Perth.
All tickets: $25pp + GST and Humanitix fees.
Please note: We have kept the ticket price low to cover costs only: mainly artist fees and a small amount of catering. Light refreshments will be provided (Tea/Coffee/Water). BYO lunch or purchase from nearby cafe or food court.
PROGRAM FOR THE DAY
8:30am Doors open & Registration
9.00am Welcome & Introduction
9.30am Session One: Of Ancestors
This session explores how ancestral traditions are being revived and reimagined to address urgent social and ecological challenges.
10.30am Session Two: Beyond the Algorithm
This session considers how craft and technology intersect, questioning whether digital tools disrupt or extend traditions of making in the contemporary era.
11:30–12:30: Lunch Break. Bring your own or enjoy the many lunch options nearby.
12:30am Session Three: Queering Craft
This session explores how contemporary practitioners disrupt conventions of making, identity, and memory, queering craft to challenge norms and imagine new cultural futures.
1:30pm Session Four: Craft as Relational Practice
This session examines craft as a relational practice that brings people together, fostering dialogue, belonging, and collective agency across cultural, political, and ecological contexts.
2:30pm Last Session: IOTA27 Announcement
This session introduces the overarching theme for IOTA27, with the Curatorium joining the audience in dialogue on the framework shaping the next Triennial.
3:00pm Symposium Ends
The IOTA Curatorium is proudly supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Centre for Australia-India Relations and the ASEAN–Australia Centre, the Western Australian Government, the IOTA Ambassadors, Forrest Research Foundation, founding partner Curtin University and major exhibition partners: Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, John Curtin Gallery, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, PICA: Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, and Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre.
The session will be recorded. Highlights will be shared at a later date. Sorry, no online participation.