Local Time joined the Auckland Old Folks’ Association on the banks of the Maribyrnong River in Footscray to host 72 hours of open-format conversation in an exhibition to accompany the conference Spectres of Evaluation, held at Footscray Community Arts Centre. Continuing our interest in the protocols of hosting and the practices of customary authority over land, before arriving we made an invitation to local Elders, artists and artsworkers from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities connected to Footscray to join us for lunch at the proposed campsite. After sharing of food and the discovery of family connections we were presented with an Australian Aboriginal Flag that hung at the site for the duration of our stay, whose dates coincided with Waitangi Day in Aotearoa. The site became a hub for conversation on traditional camping and transit sites; historical flora and fauna; struggles for self-determination; indigenous history and colonial institutions.

Local Time acknowledges the support of Uncle Larry Walsh, Lydia Fairhall, Robert C. Bundle, Vicki Couzens, Julie Tipene-O’Toole and Rob Ball during our first visit to Footscray.