Blaklash Creative

Blaklash Creative We are First Nations designers, curators and placemakers | It always starts with Country.

02/06/2026

đź’­ We asked our team: In one word, what does designing with Country mean to you?

Meet Shayne Bates, a Barkindji and Ngemba archaeologist and researcher bringing an ethnobotanical approach to the way we...
25/05/2026

Meet Shayne Bates, a Barkindji and Ngemba archaeologist and researcher bringing an ethnobotanical approach to the way we understand place at Blaklash.

Shayne’s work sits across research, knowledge translation and narrative development, helping the team connect cultural, ecological and archaeological knowledge with spatial and material responses.

“It all came back to a simple question: what if?” she says. “As a PhD archaeology student, I began to wonder what might happen if I combined my discipline with design.”

At Blaklash, Shayne is putting her skills into practice, working alongside Traditional Custodians, community and the broader team on meaningful projects grounded in Country and culture, and we can’t wait to see how this thinking unfolds.

We're hiring!Blaklash is looking for a Senior Designer to join our Brisbane-based team.We’re a 100% First Nations-owned ...
20/05/2026

We're hiring!

Blaklash is looking for a Senior Designer to join our Brisbane-based team.

We’re a 100% First Nations-owned and operated design studio working across architecture, place, public art and strategy. Through our Country-centred approach, we use design as a vehicle for cultural, social and economic change.

We’re looking for an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander built environment designer with 2–3+ years of experience who is passionate about meaningful, community-focused design work.

This is an identified position open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only.

To apply, send your cover letter, CV, and portfolio to [email protected]

More info: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4415733310/

Applications close Friday 5 June.

Working with and for community to protect and celebrate culture is why we exist.Troy and Shayne (who we haven't properly...
08/05/2026

Working with and for community to protect and celebrate culture is why we exist.

Troy and Shayne (who we haven't properly introduced to you yet but stay tuned!) were recently lucky enough to travel to Gummingurru, just north of Toowoomba, QLD. The trip was alongside our friends at Gummingurru Aboriginal Corporation, the Traditional Custodians and caretakers of this living cultural site, and Damian Thomson from LatStudios.

The visit was part of a Master Plan project for the site to allow visitors to learn and connect to the site, celebrating its context as a living cultural landscape, while also protecting it for generations to come.

Thank you to Gummingurru Aboriginal Corporation for thinking of us for this project and for their guidance as we get underway alongside the broader team.

You can't develop design principles for a community from the outside looking in. Troy and Tahlia were back on Palm Islan...
05/05/2026

You can't develop design principles for a community from the outside looking in.

Troy and Tahlia were back on Palm Island with Paul and Hudson from Phorm Architecture + Design a couple of weeks ago, their second visit as part of ongoing work to develop place-based design principles for Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council.

The conversations centred on housing, to hear what's working, what isn't, and what community actually needs. There's a lot at stake in getting it right, because good design improves living conditions, and bad design perpetuates disadvantage.

The principles coming out of this process will give Council and community a practical tool to guide the design and delivery of future infrastructure on the island, even beyond housing.

We'll be back in a couple of weeks, so if you live on Palm Island or know someone who does and would want to share their voice as part of this work, please get them to reach out to us at: [email protected]

Blaklash is proud to have been part of the team that took home the Best Art in the Workplace Collaboration award (Sponso...
01/05/2026

Blaklash is proud to have been part of the team that took home the Best Art in the Workplace Collaboration award (Sponsored by Aruga) at the Creative Brisbane Awards 2026 earlier this week! We couldn't be happier to have delivered this work alongside Keisha Leon and our friends at Arup, Hassell, Five mile radius and Dialogue Office.

The award recognises the co-design of Arup's new Brisbane workplace, in particular how layered story was embedded through artwork. What made this project possible was the collaboration behind it. Cultural knowledge shaping material decisions, story woven into everyday experience, and connection to sky, water and place all within a high-rise setting.

We're incredibly proud of what this collective has built together, and want to acknowledge every winner and nominee from the awards. Brisbane's creative community continues to do incredible things.

Tahlia Steadman and Troy Casey recently visited Napranum and Mapoon in Cape York, alongside architects and friends Luke ...
27/04/2026

Tahlia Steadman and Troy Casey recently visited Napranum and Mapoon in Cape York, alongside architects and friends Luke and Gen from Deicke Richards, to hear from community exactly how to shape their own place-based housing design guidelines.

These beautiful communities share the same climate and many family connections, yet each has its own unique character. Having the opportunity to unpack what makes them distinct is exactly the kind of nuance that shapes better housing design.

It's this kind of community work, done alongside skilled collaborators like Deicke Richards, that ensures design is the best that it can be, grounded in place, the people it serves and the culture it supports.

In a couple of weeks, the team will be head back up to continue these conversations with community. We can't wait to share more as it unfolds.

23/04/2026

Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson has unveiled 'Floriate', a monumental bronze sculpture now living at the heart of QPAC's new Glasshouse Theatre.

Robinson (Kala Lagaw Ya and Wuthathi), is known for work that weaves Torres Strait motifs, contemporary symbols and intricate design across painting, printmaking and sculpture. In 'Floriate', that practice emerges as hand-carved designs that spiral across the bronze surface, forming seven native flowering plants each drawn from a different watershed system across Queensland: Kurrajong, Spotted Emu Bush, Lemon Bush, Cape York Lily, Bat's Wing Coral Tree, Sally Wattle and Milkmaid.

Behind the scenes, Blaklash Founder Amanda Hayman developed the curatorial framework that shaped the direction of the commission, guiding the EOI process, artist selection and layers of thinking that brought the right artist to the right brief. Watch the video to hear Amanda give voice to the curatorial thinking behind the project.

Fabricated by UAP Urban Art Projects in close collaboration with Robinson, and informed by a First Nations Selection Panel and specialist advisors, Floriate stands as a tribute to the Country it sits within.

Watch the video to hear Amanda give voice to the curatorial thinking behind the project.

There’s something incredibly special about seeing First Nations stories embedded into the spaces where young people crea...
14/04/2026

There’s something incredibly special about seeing First Nations stories embedded into the spaces where young people create, learn and express themselves.

Rachael Sarra Creative's artwork 'Turtle Season', part of the Contours of Country range Blaklash developed with Decor Systems, has brought new life to the music room at Ngutu College on Kaurna Country.

Rachael’s artwork tells the story of turtles always finding their way back to Country, no matter how far they travel.

As an independent school built around Aboriginal knowledge systems and with a “living room” approach to learning, Ngutu College feels like a fitting home for this work.

We’re so proud of what Contours of Country has become, bringing culture and stories into everyday spaces where they can be experienced and carried forward.

Learn more: https://decorsystems.com.au/projects/ngutu-college/

14/04/2026

An update on Yarrabah: Together in Print.

Yarrabah: Together in Print will open this Friday 17 April at Aboriginal Art Co.

The exhibition was previously postponed as the Yarrabah community observed Sorry Business following the passing of Gunggandji designer, artist and cultural leader Simone Arnol, whose work forms part of this exhibition.

We continue to hold Simone’s family, the Yarrabah community, and all those who knew and worked alongside her in our thoughts.

We now look forward to opening the exhibition in a way that honours both the work and the community behind it.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/exhibition-opening-yarrabah-together-in-print-tickets-1987021271111

Video credit: Aboriginal Art Co

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Ground Floor, 108 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley QLD
Brisbane, QLD
4006

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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