Sharing Information in a Contemporary World
By Diana Anderson
The International Weavers Invitational Symposium (I.W.I) held in Rotorua 8-13 January was a first for me. Not quite sure what to expect I was pleasantly surprised.
I was interested to see how other indigenous people transferred their knowledge as this formed part of my master thesis. While I had read literature on indigenous knowledge, I enjoyed the interaction and learning first hand from indigenous weavers of other cultures. The similarities in the issues we face concerning resources, access, ownership, transference of indigenous knowledge and guardianship to name a few varied on a continuum from good to not so good.
Theresa Secord a member of the Penobscot Nation and the Maine Indian
Basketmakers Alliance spoke of issues that she found affected the transference of indigenous knowledge. Theresa is teaching her niece the art of basket making and is from the era where attention meant being focused 100% without distractions, but with today’s technologies the mobile phone is very much a part of life for the young even while in a learning situation and this was an issue Theresa was still coming to grips with.
While time was at a premium during the event I was particularly honoured when Theresa presented me with a book that she had contributed to North by Northeast. This book provides a wealth of information and wonderful images of works by various indigenous artists. I am grateful for experiencing what I believe is the best of both worlds, the interaction with the artists and reading the work of the artists.
Posted in Te Roopu Raranga Whatu O Aotearoa