Join Yorta Yorta educator and dancer Thara Brown in a guided meditation session inside FUTURE COUNTRY: Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions. Inspired by Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis’ floor‑to‑ceiling photographic installation showing a kaleidoscopic view of her Ancestral lands on Pitta Pitta Country, Thara will lead a gentle, meditative reflection. Participants will be invited to think about their personal and shared relationships with Country, considering land and waterways to sky and the connections between us.
About the artwork
Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis is a Pitta Pitta woman born and raised on Wadawurrung Country and currently based on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm. Her work spans photography, moving image and spoken word and is informed by family stories, oral histories and archival research. Channels features a large-scale landscape photograph of the artist’s Ancestral lands on Pitta Pitta Country, North-West Queensland. The accompanying bird song was recorded on Country while the artist was creating the work. The audience is invited to walk across the image, with the intention that it will change over time prompting us to reflect on the individual and collective impacts we have on the health and wellbeing of Country while challenging the inherent cultural bias embedded in colonial image-making and archival practices.
About Thara Brown
Thara Brown is the founder and creative director of Wala Connections, an Aboriginal-led dance organisation created to connect, express and empower through dance. Thara is a qualified teacher and dancer with extensive experience across the arts, education and community programs. As a proud Yorta Yorta winyarr (women), Thara is inspired by First Nations contemporary dance practices’ ability to tell old and modern stories, keeping culture alive and evolving for generations to come.
About Jahkarli Felicitas Romain
Born and raised on Wadawurrung Country and currently based on Wurundjeri Country, Jahkarli Felicitas Romain is a proud Pitta Pitta woman, artist and researcher. Her work challenges colonial image-making practices and interrogates the biases embedded within different imaging technologies. Spanning photography, moving image and spoken word, her practice is informed by family stories, oral histories and archival research. Romanis recently completed a PhD at Monash University through the Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab in the Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture. In 2025, she was a finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, held on Larrakia Country in Darwin.
PRESENTING PARTNER
The NGV gratefully acknowledges Linda Herd and the Canny Quine Foundation for their generous support.