Ripples of Meaning
Reflections from the 2026 Interpretation Australia Conference, by INNZ Committee Member Jess Gommers
Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra
This year's Interpretation Australia conference was held at the National Museum of Australia (NMA), on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Ngunawai and Ngambri peoples, on Acton Peninsula beside Lake Burley Griffin.
We began with a twilight tour of the Australian National Botanic Gardens; an energetic and informal way to meet fellow delegates. It was an evening of observation and discovery as we connected with each other and the unique environment around us.
While my new Aussie mates ooh’d and aah’d over the little ringtails and hoped to spot a brushtail, I found myself reflecting on audience perspective. It was an immediate reminder that people bring different biases, contexts and lived experiences to the same encounter. While some paused to shine a spotlight on yet another possum, others could only see a potential pair of socks. As interpreters and designers, we need to stay open to that breadth of response.
Wattle in bloom, Twilight tour of Australian National Botanic Gardens
Recurring themes
Over the next two days we explored environmental psychology, visitor research, accessibility, collaboration and exhibition design. Underpinning it all was a shared question: how do we create meaning, build trust and connect with people?
Why AI?
The opening keynote launched us into one of the conference's richest discussions: artificial intelligence (AI). I am cautious about this shiny new technology and the seemingly effortless solutions it promises, but Dr Keir Winesmith quickly reframed the conversation, not by selling AI's potential, but by grounding it in purpose.
By cutting through the hype and acknowledging AI's limitations, Winesmith brought the conversation back to what matters. In an age of abundance and confusion, our responsibility remains to build trust and create public value. AI is simply another tool. The real question, he argued, is not what the tool can do, but why we are using it in the first place.
Design and behaviour
Dr Regan Forrest explored how audience goals, motivations and behaviours respond to designed environments.
Design is not neutral. Design attracts and directs attention, evokes emotion and impacts cognitive load. Pacing, sightlines, lighting and order create reassurance. By carefully considering visitor choice-points, thresholds and the signals conveyed through colour, tactility, sound and wayfinding, designers can gently guide audiences towards desired outcomes.
The age-old and unchanged human understanding of information landscapes means audiences arrive with two unspoken, perhaps unconscious, primal concerns – Am I safe? Does this make sense? Disorder is disorienting. While design can never guarantee behaviour, it can reduce friction and provide guidance. When employed and understood well, design is largely invisible.
This idea of design as a quiet but influential force was echoed by Caolán Mitchell who leads with a philosophy of collaboration, and story-first thinking. Mitchell spoke about connecting people with three-dimensional stories, using form to inform space and create layers of meaning and involvement.
Self-proclaimed ‘Chief Interferer’, Mitchell sees his role as both agitator and support structure – responsible for encouraging risk, development and ownership of the designed outcome.
Footpath signage, Commonwealth Avenue Bridge
Trust and relationships
Trust and relationships emerged as a central theme. Aunty Rhonda Dixon Grovenor and Hayley Smithers Kirk spoke about how futures thinking needs to include indigenous knowledge – for things to be sustainable, we need to go back. Trust grows when conversations are built on relationship rather than transaction and given time to develop both ways.
Smithers Kirk suggests our conversations and our projects need to move at the speed of trust: relationship, reciprocity and responsibility encourage us to consider rigid colonial notions of time alongside the slower, patient and ever-present indigenous cultures: “we’re here, we’re still here”, and you can’t rush culture.
Echoing Winesmith's view that technology is merely a tool, Beata Kade cautioned against its hasty use and promoted authentic human partnerships and deep listening.
Meaningful, sustainable practices need to stay focused on the relationship, real dynamics and authentic experiences. Aligning with this year’s conference theme “Ripples of meaning: The Art of Interpretation”, Kade reminded us that interpretation is the communication of facts, and we need to let the story lead. If we slow down and lean in, placing human stories at the centre of our work, we might see some ripples fade while new narratives may start to emerge and compound.
Taha ki taha in Aotearoa
Alongside my colleague Rachel Bush, I presented Taha ki taha: Side by side, sharing insights from MOTAT's Ngā hau a Tāwhiriangi: Forces of Flight exhibition. Like many discussions throughout the conference, our presentation explored collaboration, reciprocity, trust and the value of multiple perspectives in creating richer visitor experiences.
Closing thoughts
Thank you for hosting me at your place, Interpretation Australia. Whether we are talking about possums or jetpacks – interpretation enriches the facts; it adds meaning to content and helps transform information into experience. Interpretation is alive not only in words, but also in design, dialogue, collaboration and the relationships we build along the way. At its best, interpretation invites people in. It helps us connect more deeply with content, culture and place and, perhaps most importantly, with one another.
National Triangle / Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra
