Past, Present and Future
Presented by Modus Forma
DETAILS
Free, booking required
Modus Forma Office
1/120 Cambridge Street, Collingwood VIC, Australia
Past, Present and Future brings together designers, architects and researchers to explore the diverse legacies shaping Australian design — from the enduring knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to the creative influences of migrant and contemporary practices.
The exhibition and accompanying talks reveal how these cultural narratives continue to inform new approaches to material innovation, circular design and technological care. Showcasing projects across a range of scales — from crafted objects to buildings and large-scale infrastructure — the program highlights the breadth of design’s influence in shaping how we live and connect to place.
By celebrating the dialogue between tradition and experimentation, Past, Present and Future foregrounds design’s power to heal, replenish and reconnect people and Country. It invites audiences to reflect on how Australia’s layered design history can inspire more inclusive, sustainable and regenerative futures, imagining the next chapter of Australian design as one that honours its past while shaping a better tomorrow.
Participants
Modus Forma
Modus Forma is an architecture and design studio based in Melbourne/Naarm. The practice operates at the intersection of infrastructure, culture and technology, exploring how large-scale systems can be reimagined as civic and sculptural experiences. Working fluidly across digital and physical worlds, Modus Forma investigates the expressive potential of materials, data and form. Their process merges parametric precision with narrative design thinking, producing work that is both technically rigorous and emotionally charged. Through an ever-evolving dialogue between art, architecture and urbanism, the studio seeks to challenge convention and expand the possibilities of contemporary design practice.
Karl Winda Telfer, Burka Senior Man Mullawirra Meyunna (Dry Forest People) – Kaurna Meyunna. Director – Kanyanyapilla
Karl is a first-language speaker, cultural creative, designer, artist and educator who carries deep cultural knowledge of land, sea and sky Country. His generational journey of cultural and spiritual renewal is shaped by his ancestors’ strong political activism. From his mother, Karl is the senior cultural bearer of the Spirit Fire - the peace lore fire of Tjirbruki/Tjilbruke and the Dreaming Track. His deep cultural knowledge is embedded throughout his design work in ethno-architectural form, cultural landscape and public realm storytelling through “old wisdom - new ways”. Nationally recognised, Karl has collaborated on multi award-winning projects, including the Adelaide Riverbank Pedestrian Bridge, Tarndanyangga (Victoria Square), Glenthorne National Park Nature Playspace, Lot Fourteen Public Realm, Kuri Kurru at MOD, and Yabarra – Dreaming in Light. He is Cultural Design Partner for the new Adelaide Aquatic Centre and Cultural Urban Design Lead on the Torrens to Darlington (T2D) infrastructure project.
Ella Saddington
Ella is an experimental designer, researcher and artist currently based in Melbourne/Naarm. Her practice explores the intersection of craft, material culture and design, focusing on reactivating pre-industrial techniques within contemporary contexts. Through her studio, Cordon Salon, she investigates the tacit knowledge embedded in traditional craftsmanship, blending historical research with material experimentation to create objects that are both functional and deeply resonant.
Kaylee Anderson
Kaylee is an Aboriginal woman from Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta/Bangerang Countries in New South Wales and Victoria and the director of Indigenuity Lab. With more than twenty years' experience spanning health, social justice, architecture, urban design and major infrastructure, her practice works at the intersection of cultural wisdom and strategic delivery to create enduring partnerships that produce lasting community impact, elevate cultural wisdom and protect Country.
Emma Jackson
Emma Jackson is an Architect who has taught and been an academic at RMIT Architecture for over 2 decades. Jackson completed a PhD at RMIT in 2019, which foregrounds the geological and indigenous stories of Australia and provokes a more responsive architecture. Jackson established her multi-media practice in 2021. The work reveals 4.6 billion years of our earth’s behaviour. Jackson was awarded the Australian Tapestry Design Prize for Architects for Time Shouts, was a selected exhibitor at NGV Design Fair, was a finalist in 2024 Waterhouse Prize and was exhibited at the South Australian Museum.