Digital Arts at Lockhart River

State Library's Applied Creativity team have been collaborating with the Digital Inclusion branch to present the Digital and You program, delivering creative technology workshops across Queensland. In May, Carla and Troy travelled to Lockhart River to facilitate two free digital workshops at the Indigenous Knowledge Centre (IKC).  

The workshop explored tools to create Augmented Reality experiences with QR codes and provided closer insight into utilising Procreate and Tagtool for Digital Illustration and Live Animation. Participants were able to drop in, sketch creative concepts on iPads, develop skills with new software and consider potential career pathways. We engaged with community members from the Lockhart River State School, the Puuya Foundation, the Youth Centre and Cape York Employment.  

Everyone enjoyed transforming their illustrations into animated clips and saw potential for ways these technical skills and applications could be adapted to different outcomes such as graphic design, marketing and advertising local events, fashion design and merchandise opportunities. It was a meaningful week connecting with community, bringing exciting digital tools to the region, learning about First Nations culture and watching out for crocodiles!  

The workshops are part of State Library’s Growing IKCs project which supports 15 First Nations councils to build their IKC digital capacity through access to IT equipment, place-based digital skills programs, and digital training for IKC staff so they can lead the delivery of digital programs in the future.  

Over the upcoming months, the team will be visiting IKCs around the Torres Strait facilitating more Digital and You workshops which will deliver skills training in drone flying, digital storytelling, podcasting, pocket cinema, live streaming and digital broadcasting. 

IKCs are library and resource hubs owned and operated by Indigenous Shire Councils, with support provided by State Library of Queensland. The Lockhart River IKC was the very first IKC to open in Queensland on 23rd April 2002. Today the IKCs play an important role in communities as meeting and keeping places for cultural knowledge, archival material and storytelling. 

The Growing IKCs project is funded by Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business through Our Thriving Digital Future: Queensland’s Digital Economy Strategy 2023-2026.