AELA’s Earth Arts Program is pleased to invite you to join our next ‘creative conversation’.
On July 22nd we’re excited to be joined by Jude Taggart Roberts, Vernessa Fien and Renata Buziak, members of the Yimbaya Maranoa Arts Collective, to discuss their current exhibition, Terra-rara. Hear about the local inspiration for the art works, and the ongoing connection the art collective has with the people and places of the Maranoa River.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
JUDE TAGGART ROBERTS
Jude Taggart Roberts is a visual artist and facilitator of arts related projects. She completed a Doctorate in Visual Art in 2015 to research drawing and print methods to explore the water/landscapes of the Great Artesian Basin. Jude has taught across the mediums of drawing and print media in Brisbane and regional areas. From 1984 to 2005 she lived and worked across the Maranoa region with drawing, tutoring and other arts related projects and has continued to make connections with the land and people of Mitchell since her move to Brisbane. Jude’s practice is about collaborating and creating work in different communities to contribute to the understanding and appreciation of inland water environments. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jude_taggart_roberts/
VERNESSA FIEN
Vernessa Fien is based on the Maranoa River and is a descendant of both Gunggari and Bidjara Peoples. She is a creative who facilitates a women’s cultural group, Wandering Spirits. Art is a significant part of Aboriginal culture, and Vernessa is passionate about using this to help promote the importance of understanding and acknowledging First Nations’ peoples and custodians of cultural heritage.
RENATA BUZIAK
Dr Renata Buziak is a biochrome artist, researcher and educator working at the intersection of art and science, with a deep interest in plants and the natural world. Her photographic research is grounded in flora and organic processes. By bending the rules of traditional photography and allowing photographic materials to interact with organic matter over time, Renata developed a unique process she calls the biochrome. This alternative photographic approach merges art and science, revealing the cycle of life and decay, and fostering deeper connection with nature and well-being. Find out more about Renata and her work here – https://renatabuziak.com
MICHELLE MALONEY
Dr Michelle Maloney (PhD) is an Earth lawyer and advocate for ecocentric and bioregional governance. She is recognised internationally and in Australia for her work advocating for Earth centred law and governance, including First Laws and the Rights of Nature. Michelle is Co-Founder and Director of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA), and Co-Founder and Director of Future Dreaming, an Indigenous led organisation that works to share Indigenous ecological and governance knowledge with non-Indigenous people and organisations in Australia. In her role as Convenor of AELA, Michelle created and works in partnership with many wonderful artists and creatives, to host Earth Arts activities every two years or so. For information about Michelle’s work, publications and affiliations, please visit: www.michellemaloney.au
ABOUT AELA’S EARTH ARTS PROGRAM, ‘KINSHIP’ 2026
This webinar is part of AELA’s Earth Arts Program for 2026, themed “Kinship”. Kinship is an invitation for all creatives to celebrate, create works and events, and learn more about our deep interconnection and entanglement with all of life on earth. You can find out more about the program, and submit your ideas to get involved, on this webpage: https://eartharts.org.au/events/kinship-2026/
Why Kinship?
Human beings are just one member of the wider Earth community, and we are all connected and interdependent with all other species and ecosystems. ‘Kinship’ invites us to reflect, celebrate and be inspired by the creative, cultural, bioregional, spiritual and practical ways that humans relate to, and are part of, nature. ‘Kinship’ aims to enable us to enrich our understanding of what it means to be part of the Earth community.
Our 2026 Kinship Earth Arts Program will see AELA host arts projects, workshops, creative exhibitions, writing programs and more – to stimulate reflection, conversations and cultural shifts that acknowledge the wonder, beauty and our reliance on, the more-than-human world.
ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN EARTH LAWS ALLIANCE (AELA)
AELA is a not-for-profit organisation working to increase the understanding and practical implementation of Earth-centred (ecocentric) governance, with a focus on systems change across law, economics, education, ethics and community participation in Australia. AELA’s vision is an Australian society that embraces an ecocentric or ‘life-centred’ culture, with governance systems that enable human communities to thrive within ecological boundaries, while nurturing biodiversity and ecosystem health. AELA’s work includes education programs and project support for people, communities and organisations working to create ecocentric systems change.
For more information, visit our website: www.earthlaws.org.au
or email us anytime: [email protected]