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Paper short abstract:

This research sets to explore how engagement in digital art and entertainment productions influences Australian Indigenous creative practices, expressions of identity, and cultural self-representation in the eyes of international audiences.

Paper long abstract:

Indigenous art provides fruitful grounds to express Indigenous cultures, traditional knowledges, and identities. However, while traditional and academic art forms have been at the centre of academic inquiry for decades, Indigenous digital production started to attract scholarly attention only recently. If digital art can be a means to act and to express, then it can reveal as much insight as other forms of art in terms of the development, innovation, and richness of Indigenous cultures, identity, and participation in the global cultural exchange. If that is so, then what does this complex process of engaging in digital art production mean for Indigenous nations?

In this thesis, I will look at graphic novels, animated movies, animated TV series, VR experiences, illustrated books (e-books), and mixed media projects produced by or together with Indigenous creators to explore the role of digital art in Australian Indigenous creative practices, expressions of identity, and cultural self-representation. By talking to the creators and examining their works, I aim to understand how Indigenous digital art creators navigate around concepts of authenticity and hybridity, information and its format, cultural preservation and development, traditional and popular culture, exclusiveness, and inclusiveness, and boundaries between Indigenous and non-Indigenous.