Lunch with Kim Mahood et al.

Radical Incrementalism is our 2020 Lunch + Conversation series, which we established to mitigate the isolation of COVID, and as a new way to spark imagination, connection and exchange. The conversations took place in person where possible and also on Zoom, with only ever a handful of people involved.

For our final virtual ‘lunch’ we were joined by artist and writer Kim Mahood to discuss her work on Martu Country with Walmajarri people, and to share ideas around ‘critical cartography’ and ‘counter mapping’. Joining us for the chat were architects Sarah Lynn Rees, a Palawa woman from north-east Tasmania, and Louis Mokak a Djugun man from West Kimberley; as well as Diana Snape from the office of the Government Architect New South Wales.

The lunch offered an engaging hour of conversation that ranged across art, mapping, agency, and procurement, and how to effectively weave technical information with cultural knowledge using the map as a means to establish ‘what’s there’ before further work can be done. The hour quickly disappeared with so much to consider. A delightful way of connecting with others, sharing thoughts, and interrogating architectural practice and approaches to community engagement.