Jahkarli Romanis

Jahkarli Romanis is a proud Pitta Pitta woman, artist, researcher and curator based on Kulin Land. Raised on Wadawurrung Country, Jahkarli moved to Melbourne to continue her tertiary studies in 2018. After completing an Honours in Photography degree at RMIT in 2020, she has commenced a PhD at Monash in 2021 through the Wominjeka Djeembana Research Lab. Her work is inextricably intertwined with her identity as a Pitta Pitta woman and explores the complexities of her lived experience and the continuing negative impacts of colonisation in Australia.

Jahkarli has been involved in a number of exhibitions across Victoria and internationally as an artist and curator. Namely, international arts festivals PHOTO and Austrian based festival Ars Electronica. She is currently a Research Assistant on an Australian Research Council (ARC) Indigenous Discovery grant 'Protocols for Indigenous-led creative practice.' This project investigates how Indigenous Design Charters can address the ongoing misuse of Indigenous Knowledge in professional creative practice.