What happens when specialist knowledge is no longer passed on?

What Do We Carry Forward? brings together makers and practitioners for a conversation about the skills and knowledge we inherit, how they are learned and passed on, and what it takes to ensure they continue into the future.

Across traditional and specialist practices, much of what matters isn’t written down. It lives in experience - in hands, tools, techniques, stories and knowledge developed over years, sometimes generations.

This moderated panel will explore the challenges of succession and skills transmission: who is learning, who is teaching, what is at risk of being lost, and how we create meaningful pathways for the next generation.

It’s a conversation about more than preserving the past. It’s about deciding what we carry forward - and how.

Moderated by Robert Allen, Brisbane Heritage Co.
Robert is a heritage professional with extensive experience in Brisbane’s built heritage, architecture and the stories of the people and places that shape our city.

Meet the Panel

Dr Renata Buziak - Photo-media Artist, Researcher & Educator
Renata’s practice combines alternative and experimental photographic processes with contemporary art, research and education. Her work offers a perspective on how established processes and knowledge can continue to evolve through experimentation, teaching and new applications.

Michael Blazek - Neon Artist & Specialist Neon Maker
Co-founder of Neon Signs Australia, Michael brings more than three decades of specialist knowledge in traditional glass neon fabrication. Following the closure of the business in 2023, its extensive archive was acquired by the John Oxley Library at State Library of Queensland - opening an interesting conversation about what can be preserved through documentation and what can only be retained by continuing to practise and pass on a skill.

Meade & Mason Murphy - Murphy’s Antiques and Restorations
Representing two generations of a family restoration practice, Meade and Mason bring a direct perspective on how specialist knowledge is passed from one generation to the next through working alongside one another. Their experience opens up questions around learning by doing, what can only be transferred from practitioner to practitioner, and how traditional knowledge is retained, adapted and carried forward by the next generation.

This is a conversation about more than preserving the past. It asks what knowledge we value, what we risk losing, and ultimately: what do we carry forward - and how?

Saturday 7 November 2026
4:00 - 5:00pm
Sandgate Town Hall

FREE - bookings recommended to secure your place. Limited capacity.

Presented as part of Heritage Hands Festival: Sandgate - Made by hand. Made to last.

Contact the host of Heritage Hands Panel Discussion: What Do We Carry Forward?

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