Machine learning, rock art and Indigenous engagements with 21st century technology

The sandstone country of Cape York hosts one of the richest bodies of rock art in the world. Spectacular galleries document the life-ways of generations of Aboriginal peoples.

This project brings together multidisciplinary researchers, cutting edge machine learning technology and traditional Aboriginal knowledge, to develop an AI capable of cataloguing these rock art motifs.

A key aspect of this project is to engage disenfranchised Aboriginal people via local cultural heritage in novel and innovative ways using a citizen science approach. In doing so it will capture the imagination of Aboriginal children in remote communities of Cape York and lead to improved education outcomes.

Past meets future

The project aims to use rock art to engage remote Aboriginal communities, especially children, in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) in order to develop and trial an innovative place-based, ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) compliant curriculum package featuring cross-cultural learning.

Together with Indigenous communities we explore the role of a techno-cultural interface for redressing educational disadvantage for Indigenous learners in mainstream classrooms. The projects aims to achieve this by developing educational tools, resources, for modules for Griffith pre-service teachers as a way to provide a clear and tangible demonstration of how communities, researchers and schools can successfully collaborate and learn from one another in a way that meaningfully informs and transforms educational pedagogies and practices.

Funding announcement

Our project is a Griffith spotlight – research for a brighter future

Team

Spotlight Members

Amanda Miotto – Technology Stream

Andrea Jalandoni – Technology Stream Co-Leader / Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream

Bianca Beetson – Indigenous Pedagogies Stream Co-Leader / Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream

Courtney Smith – Indigenous Pedagogies Stream

David Secretan-Hallett – Technology Stream

Fiona McKeague – Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream

Gervase Tuxworth – Technology Stream

Jan Hettenhausen – Technology Stream

Jill Huntley – Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream Co-Leader

Julie Ballangarry – Indigenous Pedagogies Stream / Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream

Mia Dardengo – Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream

Paulo De Souza – Technology Stream Co-Leader

Richard Turner-Jones – Technology Stream

Robert Haubt – Senior Research Fellow

Shelley Peters – Technology Stream

Tasha Riley – Indigenous Pedagogies Stream

Troy Meston – Indigenous Pedagogies Stream Co-Leader / Rock Art and Cultural Heritage Stream

Partnerships

Laura Rangers logo

Want to know more?

Get in touch with the project team