Listen in on a compelling conversation between Loata Ho and Kali Marnane about working with women in Fijian and Indian communities, equity, gender, collaboration and cultural identity. This session is available as a video and podcast.
Our conversationalists for this episode are Kali Marnane and Loata Ho. Kali is an architect and urban designer and, at the time of this session, a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. She has since obtained her PhD. Loata is an architect and researcher of iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) descent. A PhD candidate at the University of Canberra, her research focuses on the intersection of architecture with women’s cultural knowledge.
In this fascinating discussion, Kali Marnane and Loata Ho discuss their experiences of working with communities of women in India and Fiji respectively. Loata explores how Indigenous women’s knowledge alters the spaces they inhabit, and attempts to bring this understanding into the areas she builds. Kali shares her experiences working with women and children in Ahmedabad and the challenges she faced as a foreigner. Through this chat, Kali and Loata explore the impact of embedded paternalistic structures on their opportunities to work in patriarchal spaces, and the necessity of understanding culture and belief systems before commencing a project.
This Salon was recorded live on Zoom on 2 July 2020. Organised by Ali McFadyen and Emma Healy, it was supported by Parlour Partner AWS.
