Cienan Muir
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Cienan Muir |
| Alias(es): | |
| Type: | fan, cosplay, conventions |
| Fandoms: | science fiction, costumer, comics, gamer, D & D |
| Communities: | Indiginerd, |
| Other: | |
| URL: | Indiginerd, FIL on YouTube |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Cienan Muir is a fan and self-described blerd who has been active in the Australian science fiction community for some years. He founded Indiginerd and was instrumental in organising the Indigenous Comic Con.
Growing up in country Victoria, he turned to comics for escapism.[1]
Cienan Muir is a Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri man who grew up in Northcote, going to Thornbury Primary and then Northcote High.[note 1], before completing a social sciences degree. [2]
He has served as the Deputy Chair of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service[2] and received a Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership in 2019.[3]
Cienan has been involved in the world of pop culture since 2010 sitting on numerous panels, hosting some and giving a few talks on his work with cosplay. In doing so, he talks about the role representation plays within various forms of media and the power narrative, he relates this to the concept of SHAME and the unwanted existence it has within the Indigenous community. Believing that it must be dismantled.[3]
His Fanac encompasses a wide scope of representation, recognition and empowerment:
INDIGINERD is not just about representation but about showcasing Indigenous talent across comics, gaming, and more.[4]
He plays Leo in the All-Indigenous D&D group, the Gammin Guild.[5]
“I AM YOUNG, BLAK AND DEADLY!” [6]
Cienan was a Guest of Honour at the "reboot Continuum 16 convention" in 2024, at which he participated in panels and talks about topics such as "Blak Excellence in Nerd Spaces".[7]
I started cosplaying roughly 8 years ago, I remember that this was such a huge step for me personally, and my nerves rendered me subdued to my surroundings.Growing up, the social landscape of this country was difficult for me to navigate, to say the less. In no way, shape or form, comparable to the state of the world our ancestors or Elders had to grow up in. I try to remind myself of this in everything I do, it prompts me to be respectful in how I carry myself and honour those footprints that I both am guided by and continue on from...
...The very act of putting myself, in public, in a costume, terrified me! In my very small journey so far in life, I had built up a perspective of shame that I had come to find comfort in. This, in all my being, is not the way. For me, or our community! The concept of being the outer, the outlier, the weird one, the last one picked, the rebellious one, the one out of line was such a ‘dirty word’, but a concept I would come to call friend...
Over time this little act of my putting myself out there, revealing my passion, helped me across many other aspects of my life. My public speaking grew, my social skills grew, even my posture and how I walked changed. Cosplay did so much for my self-esteem and self-confidence, I began to stand fearlessly in the face of what would’ve feared me if cosplay wasn’t such a crucial part of me.[8]
Indigenous Comic Con
Cienan attended an indigenous comic convention in the USA and decided to bring one to Australia:
“I loved it,” he says. “It was such a new perspective on the world of pop culture.”He saw Star Wars dubbed into a Native American language. He saw young people connecting with their elders through discussions of the Marvel universe.
“And I just thought, this is definitely something we need over here,” he says.[9]
He oversaw the Indigenous Comic Con in Melbourne in November 2019. He reported:
The 2019 Indigenous Comic Con in Australia meant many things to many people. It is a platform for the realization of Indigenous creativity to be seen, a safe space for culture to be celebrated and, most importantly, a place to celebrate our passion for the pop culture.[10]
Indiginerd
Cienan founded "Indiginerd" in August 2021 and runs the website:
INDIGINERD is our platform promoting the pure deadliness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creativity, giving a space to Indigenous creativity doing amazing stuff in the pop culture world and showing the artistry of Indigenous minds, and how these inspire an innovative environment.[11]
This work fights entrenched attitudes that contribute to elitism and exclusion as might threaten to discriminate or exclude based on racism (for example see Shout out to all the Black ppl that can no longer participate directly in the fandom they love because of the stresses of racism 👍🏾).
This connects with his outlook:
I wanted to produce a space where we could have a laugh, have some fun, but also really think about how we tell our narrative and what it means to be the oldest storytellers in the world.[12]
Notes
- ^ Northcote and Thornbury are suburbs to the north of central Melbourne, Victoria, Austraia.
References
- ^ Caitlin Cassidy, "Mooroopna man ‘Deadly and Proud’ of creating IndigiNerd", Shepparton News, 3 March 2021.
- ^ a b 'Board', Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service>
- ^ a b "Cienan Muir: Emerging Leader 2019 - 2020", Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership
- ^ Mo'Ju, "The Score: Cienan Muir Brings Indigenous Pop Culture to Life with INDIGINERD", 3RRR, 3 October 2024.
- ^ "Artist: Cienan Muir", Emerging Writers' Festival, 2024.
- ^ Cienan Muir, To my fellow blerds: this is for you, IndigenousX blog.
- ^ Program, Continuum 16 Reboot Program, 17 - 19 May 2024.
- ^ Cieran Muir, 'No Shame here', Indiginerd blog.
- ^ Nick Miller, "The self-confessed nerd on a mission to make comics more deadly", Sydney Morning Herald, 8 July 2021.
- ^ Cienan Muir, Indigenous Comic Con
- ^ Cienan Muir, "About", Indiginerd website.
- ^ Keira Jenkins, "Cienan Muir is creating a space for Indigenous voices in pop culture" SBS/NITV News, 11 February 2021.