{"id":224838,"date":"2025-12-19T12:10:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T01:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/?p=224838"},"modified":"2026-01-09T14:17:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T03:17:48","slug":"designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design","title":{"rendered":"Designing for Country: Reconciliation Through Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reconciliation can take many forms \u2013\u00a0but when approached through design, it offers a powerful way to share stories and build understanding. Milliken<\/a> understands the powerful role that design can play in creating lasting cultural connections, and its pioneering ‘Reconciliation Through Design<\/a>‘<\/em> initiative has become an evolving framework for collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Through the platform, First Nations artists develop flooring collections that offer a new way for their stories to be seen,<\/ins> and understood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReconciliation Through Design<\/em> is about creating a space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to collaborate with the commercial interiors industry,\u201d explains James Mfula, Milliken\u2019s Creative Director and Collaboration Lead. \u201cIt gives corporate Australia an opportunity to support these artists through meaningful partnerships that directly benefit them and their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Specified by Leaf Architecture, photography by Richard Glover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The initiative emerged from a long-held idea. Two decades ago, Mfula met award-winning First Nations artist, designer and film producer, Alison Page, at a gallery opening, and the pair began imagining what First Nations design could look like in a commercial setting. \u201cAt the time, the market wasn\u2019t ready,\u201d he recalls. \u201cFast forward to 2016, and the timing finally felt right.\u201d That conversation led to a partnerships with Gumbaynggirr artist Brentyn Lugnan, which resulted in the Water Yuludarla collection, followed by a collaboration with textile designer Helena Geiger on the Sandhills collections; and the initiative has brought First Nations design into offices, schools, and civic spaces across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Milliken, each collaboration begins with respect and shared learning, and before an artwork is translated into a carpet collection, the Milliken team spend time with each artist to understand the cultural context. \u201cThe artists are giving us their stories and sharing their culture,\u201d says Mfula. \u201cOur responsibility is to listen, to learn, and to make sure their stories are told with integrity and authenticity. It takes time to build trust and find synergy between their practice and what we do. The artist has to have confidence that we\u2019ll look after their interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Specified by Greenway Architects, photography by David Sievers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the artist, the collaborations are a way to share their own experiences. Geiger\u2019s Sandhills collection, for example, traces the intricate patterns of the Australian landscape through the textile technique of batik, and is inspired by her own journeys through Country. \u201cI have a deep connection to the land and bring home memories to recreate it with intricate detail in my artwork,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe sifted through palettes of natural hues \u2013 inspired by red dirt and coloured sands, ochres, shells, scribbly bark, paperbark, and eucalypt leaves \u2013 to create a visual experience of walking on Country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For designers, these kinds of collaborations offer opportunities for First Nations people to showcase their talents and develop new revenue streams that provide for communities and families. It also is a chance to share their cultural traditions. When Geiger visited the Milliken  manufacturing facility in Sydney, an Elder from the local Land Council performed a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony. \u201cThe knowledge we shared that day helped create a clearer vision of what we were developing with this range she recalls. \u201cIt was a beautiful moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Specified by Neami National<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Lugnan, whose Water Yuludarla collection was developed in partnership with the Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance and the National Aboriginal Design Agency, the experience was similarly transformative. \u201cIt was exhilarating to see how others connected with the spiritual significance of my work while bringing it into a contemporary design context,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s something wonderful about juxtaposing the most ancient designs and story on the planet with the most modern technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its heart, the ‘Reconciliation Through Design’<\/em> initiative means the impact of Milliken extends far beyond the floor. Bringing these stories to commercial settings adds another layer of meaning to the project, offering a connection to place and First Nations people. \u201cDesign can be a powerful educator,\u201d says Mfula. \u201cWhen someone walks into a space and sees a First Nations pattern, it prompts curiosity \u2013 people ask, \u2018What does this mean? What\u2019s the story?\u2019- and that\u2019s how understanding begins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n
Specified by Neami National<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, Milliken plans to expand the initiative with Corroboree, a new collection launching in early 2026 that brings together artists from each Australian state and territory. The concept is also expanding globally. Milliken Canada, for example, has launched its own ‘Reconciliation Through Design’<\/em> platform, and has most recently collaborated with Anishinaabe interior designer, Destiny Seymour, on the Nibi collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the initiative is a reminder that the spaces we inhabit can carry meaning far deeper than their function. \u201cIncluding Indigenous design in modern spaces is a great pathway to reconciliation,\u201d says Geiger. \u201cIt allows non-Indigenous Australians \u2013 and the wider world \u2013 to connect with our culture in a real and respectful way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Specified by Harmonic Design Studio, photography by Peter Barnes Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lugnan\u2019s ambition for the collaboration is similar. \u201cWhen people encounter my designs in these commercial spaces, I just want them to take a moment and think about what\u2019s being represented,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s an ancient connection behind these works. If people can feel even the slightest sense of that, then we\u2019ve achieved something far more than I could have ever hoped for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milliken<\/strong>
Reconciliation Through Design<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Milliken\u2019s \u2018Reconciliation Through Design\u2019 initiative is amplifying the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, showcasing how cultural collaboration can reshape the design narrative in commercial interiors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":224839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":1768532735,"_expiration-date-type":"draft","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[670],"tags":[40625,130,22361,1552,40626,25507,3542,3052,12129],"class_list":["post-224838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertorials","tag-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-artists","tag-australian-design","tag-carpet-design","tag-commercial-interiors","tag-cultural-collaboration","tag-first-nations-design","tag-indigenous-design","tag-milliken","tag-reconciliation-through-design","advertorials"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDesigning for Country through reconciliation and design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Milliken\u2019s Reconciliation Through Design initiative partners with First Nations artists to reshape commercial interiors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Designing for Country through reconciliation and design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Milliken\u2019s Reconciliation Through Design initiative partners with First Nations artists to reshape commercial interiors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Indesign Live: Interior Design and Architecture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/indesignlive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-19T01:10:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-09T03:17:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.indesignlive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design-Hero-Image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mandi Keighran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mandi Keighran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design\",\"name\":\"Designing for Country through reconciliation and design\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-19T01:10:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-09T03:17:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e96d3ededd0d147f803a31b3b8c01aa8\"},\"description\":\"Milliken\u2019s Reconciliation Through Design initiative partners with First Nations artists to reshape commercial interiors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Designing for Country: Reconciliation Through Design\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/\",\"name\":\"Indesign Live: Interior Design and Architecture\",\"description\":\"- Australian Design for Architects & Interior Designers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e96d3ededd0d147f803a31b3b8c01aa8\",\"name\":\"Mandi Keighran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1aaa1b65781e834fbb3b5a3ea32803c07dd20517346c660e9938ee460e23c94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1aaa1b65781e834fbb3b5a3ea32803c07dd20517346c660e9938ee460e23c94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mandi Keighran\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/author\/mandi-k\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Designing for Country through reconciliation and design","description":"Milliken\u2019s Reconciliation Through Design initiative partners with First Nations artists to reshape commercial interiors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Designing for Country through reconciliation and design","og_description":"Milliken\u2019s Reconciliation Through Design initiative partners with First Nations artists to reshape commercial interiors.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design","og_site_name":"Indesign Live: Interior Design and Architecture","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/indesignlive\/","article_published_time":"2025-12-19T01:10:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-09T03:17:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":780,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.indesignlive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design-Hero-Image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mandi Keighran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mandi Keighran","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design","url":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design","name":"Designing for Country through reconciliation and design","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-19T01:10:20+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-09T03:17:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e96d3ededd0d147f803a31b3b8c01aa8"},"description":"Milliken\u2019s Reconciliation Through Design initiative partners with First Nations artists to reshape commercial interiors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/advertorials\/designing-for-country-reconciliation-through-design#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Designing for Country: Reconciliation Through Design"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/","name":"Indesign Live: Interior Design and Architecture","description":"- Australian Design for Architects & Interior Designers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e96d3ededd0d147f803a31b3b8c01aa8","name":"Mandi Keighran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1aaa1b65781e834fbb3b5a3ea32803c07dd20517346c660e9938ee460e23c94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1aaa1b65781e834fbb3b5a3ea32803c07dd20517346c660e9938ee460e23c94f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mandi Keighran"},"url":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/author\/mandi-k"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indesignlive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}