Jen Mason

Jen is a descendant of the Gourmjanyuk clan of the Wemba Wamba nation, and the Theddora Mittung people of the Dhudhuroa nation through her great grandparents, who are apical ancestors of these two tribes. The historical decimation of her people and language means her traditional knowledge is fragmented and this is the motivation for her current work as a researcher. In her culture, people's individual history or yumerraki, (dreaming) would be recorded by identifying significant milestones on possum skins, forming a cloak to be worn through to adulthood. As directed by her Elders, it is Jen's cultural obligation to sieve through the available information to attain the necessary knowledge to pass on to their descendants. Jen has chosen the digital media practice to present her research findings. In her doctoral research, Jen examined the cultural engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, producing a scripted documentary film as the major creative output. Focusing on creative practice framed through Yarning methodology, her current research builds on this decolonised approach, and includes content that connects her people to country, resulting in an immersive digital media output. At the Queensland University of Technology Jen tutored in both the Communications and Digital Media disciplines. She has extensive professional experience in Event and Project Management, across a broad range of vocations within the communications sphere, both in Australia and overseas. She enjoys many creative activities and streamlines these to include content related to work and she also enjoys Karate to keep fit and cooking to relax.