Alison Page is an interior designer and artist with a multi-disciplinary practice working on various projects in health, education, office design, exhibition design, cultural arts centres and public art. A Tharawal woman from La Perouse in Sydney, Alison's work explores links between cultural identity, art and the built environment.

As a member of the Merrima Design, Alison has worked with various urban and rural Aboriginal communities in the delivery of cultural appropriate architectural services.

In 1999 Alison received an award from the International Federation of Interior Architects for making a "contribution to the design environment with an emphasis on social awareness and responsibility".

Alison is also a regular panelist on the ABC program ‘The New Inventors’ which showcases the latest in Australian innovation.

Alison is currently working on a public sculpture in Coffs Harbour, the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Centre at La Perouse and is teaching furniture design and visual arts at the North Coast Institute of TAFE.

ABSTRACT

Storytelling and place

This paper explores the notion of storytelling through the display of art and objects within museums. The dynamic between art, the environment and the people viewing it will be explored through the narratives behind indigenous exhibitions.

Within the wider community, there is a greater understanding of place, community and identity and an appreciation for our collective need for it. Telling stories is a human condition and fulfills our need for rituals of understanding and connectedness.

Creating spaces for containing art involves a process not unlike the creation of art itself. Cultural design projects consider protocols, culturally appropriate communication as well as building strong links between the designer, curator and the community. This results in exhibitions which speak on various levels to a wide audience creating an experience that is interactive and extra sensory.

This process will be illustrated by describing three projects; an environmental art installation on Mount Keira in Wollongong, Bayagul the permanent indigenous exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and Our Place, a traveling indigenous exhibition which opened in Athens in 2004.