The 2026 boorda yeyi Foundational Symposium, themed Changing Worlds, unfolded over two days at the State Library of Western Australia and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, moving from ideas of presence to care, and from data to earth.

Day One: Deliberate Technology brought together artists working with archives and data, and explored creative systems of thinking. This approach helped inform ways of working towards specific, powerful narratives that shape how people encounter an artwork.

The first day of the Symposium featured talks, case studies and demonstrations from leading voices, including Ngarluma filmmaker Perun Bonser (DADAA) and artist and digital producer Sophie Penkethman-Young (Junior Major).

Participants were also invited to join Denion Toomath (Menang/Noongar) and David Craddock on a guided tour of the SLWA Archives, connecting the symposium’s themes of embodiment and digital storytelling to place and data sovereignty.

Day Two: Analogue Collectivism brought together artists and researchers who use technology to think about our relationship with the environment. This session looked at how digital tools can help us slow down, pay attention and create a stronger sense of connection between viewers and the environment.

Collaborators April Phillips, Pat Younis and Jordan East (Friends with Computers) talked about working in real-time. They discussed how an artwork can change based on audience interaction and what it means when presence genuinely effects what the work does. Friends with Computers discussed how the collective’s practice and ways of working draws on ecological and cultural systems, using interactive technology to create artworks that ‘live’ beyond the date of installation.

Artist Dr Martina Mongrovious shared her approach to holographic image making and how holograms can offer new ways of seeing and experiencing the world, with attention to creative engagements with ecosystems.

The 2026 boorda yeyi Foundational Symposium is supported by our Venue Partner, the State Library of Western Australia.

Images: boorda yeyi Foundational Symposium 2026, photos: Edwin Sitt

Bringing together leading artists, technologists and cultural practitioners from across Australia, the symposium shares critical frameworks, experimental practices, and hands-on demonstrations that reveal new possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Through demonstrations, presentations and workshops, participants engaged with emerging tools, critical frameworks and experimental practices contributing meaningfully to the future of art and technology.

In 2025, Foundational Symposium speakers discussed the ethics of data and surveillance (Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker), collaborative methods for working in AR (JC), narrative design in mixed reality (Natalie Marinho), the fusion of dance and VR (Raewyn Hill & Justin McArdle), spatial sound (Byron J. Scullin), audience experience and design (Lucie Paterson), sustainable funding models (Helen Simondson & Gemma Pepper), real-time motion capture for live performance (Caitlin Lomax), creative applications of generative AI (Kartini Ludwig), and spatial design through projection mapping (Sohan Ariel Hayes). Together, these sessions offered a comprehensive introduction to the artistic, technical and conceptual possibilities of immersive practice in contemporary art.