Delve deep into the design concepts behind HOME, Australia’s presentation at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Join us for an informative discussion with leading First Nations built environment practitioners Dr. Michael Mossman, Jack Gillmer-Lilley, and Professor of Practice Emily McDaniel. In conversation with designer Alison Page, the panel will discuss their 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale project HOME.
Through this work, they explore how Aboriginal knowledge systems and ways of being foster deeper connections, both between people and with place. The team will share how these practices offer pathways toward more collaborative and sustainable futures.
Dr. Michael Mossman
Dr Michael Mossman is a Kuku Yalanji man who lectures and researches at the University of Sydney School of Architecture Design and Planning. He is a registered architect who champions Country and First Nations cultures as agents for structural change in the broader architectural profession at educational, practice and policy levels. As co-lead creative director, Michael will lead logistics + dialogue around public engagement + culture + architecture.
Jack Gillmer-Lilley
Jack Gillmer-Lilley (Worimi & Biripi Guri) is an associate and First Nations lead at SJB, visiting and working on Gadigal Country. He advocates First Nations leadership and co-design, exploring the intersection of cultural knowledge systems and the built environment with an interest in multi-sensory experiences and unlocking ancient-living infrastructure through language. As Creative Director for the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2025, and through his research as recipient of the Galang Residency collaboration between Powerhouse Museum x Cite Internationale des arts (Paris) in 2024, Jack looks forward to extending conversations about reframing museology and Indigenising institutional architecture and processes.
Professor of Practice Emily McDaniel
Emily McDaniel is a Wiradjuri curator, creative practitioner and a Professor of Practice in the School of Architecture, UTS. She consults on curatorship, cultural narratives, learning and interpretation for cultural institutions, public domain, and the built environment.
Her practice applies Country-centred curatorial methodologies in collaboration with First Nations communities, cultural and creative practitioners, architects, and designers to story and truth-tell. She is recognised for her influential curatorial methodologies which place emphasis on expansive cultural practice, encompassing visual art, design, storytelling, language, performance, Indigenous knowledges, cultural governance, and nation building methodologies.
Alison Page
Alison Page is a Dharawal and Yuin artist and designer with an extensive career spanning design, public art, interiors and urban design. Her career began in the late 90’s working in architecture and interior design in Australia’s first Aboriginal architecture group Merrima. Her practice is collaborative, working with communities to explore the memory of place and converging urban design, sculpture, interiors and film to tell their stories. Alison is a Professor of Practice in the Architecture School at the University of Technology and the founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency.
