Curating Cities: the social and ecological potential of public art practice. This project researches the contribution of public art to eco-sustainable development, focusing on world’s best practice and potential benefits to Sydney and cities in general. It seeks to establish how the arts can promote environmentally beneficial behaviour change and the development of green infrastructure.
Towards an integrated evaluation framework for intrinsic and instrumental benefits of community-based arts. Australia is recognised as a world leader in community-based arts, in which artists and communities collaborate to identify and effect key local issues. Increasingly, these community-based arts projects involve funding from non-arts agencies; for example from the health, justice or urban development sectors. However, existing methods of describing and evaluating their success are generally ....Towards an integrated evaluation framework for intrinsic and instrumental benefits of community-based arts. Australia is recognised as a world leader in community-based arts, in which artists and communities collaborate to identify and effect key local issues. Increasingly, these community-based arts projects involve funding from non-arts agencies; for example from the health, justice or urban development sectors. However, existing methods of describing and evaluating their success are generally ineffective. This research will develop more holistic modes of evaluation, offering benefits to the participants, artists and funders of community-based arts and provide support towards further cross-sector collaborations across all public policy areas, further strengthening Australia's reputation as a leader in fostering active and culturally rich communities.Read moreRead less
Understanding Balinese paintings: collections, narrative, aesthetics and society. This project will use digital tools, fieldwork and formal analysis to link a major collection of Balinese paintings held in Australia to collections elsewhere in the world, and to the current practices of Balinese artists. The project increases the capacity of Australia to analyse the cultures of Indonesia and to contribute to regional heritage preservation. The outcomes will provide a basis for future public exhib ....Understanding Balinese paintings: collections, narrative, aesthetics and society. This project will use digital tools, fieldwork and formal analysis to link a major collection of Balinese paintings held in Australia to collections elsewhere in the world, and to the current practices of Balinese artists. The project increases the capacity of Australia to analyse the cultures of Indonesia and to contribute to regional heritage preservation. The outcomes will provide a basis for future public exhibitions of paintings and web-based resources linking Australian public institutions and Balinese communities.Read moreRead less
The Art of AIDS Prevention: Cultural Responses to HIV/AIDS in Australia and the United States. While a number of studies have examined HIV/AIDS as a biological entity, the crucial 'cultural construction' of AIDS, and the effect of this construction on people living with AIDS and the wider public, is poorly understood. This project will assist wider awareness of the fact that public understandings of disease and affected individuals are both culturally mediated and contestable. In examining the i ....The Art of AIDS Prevention: Cultural Responses to HIV/AIDS in Australia and the United States. While a number of studies have examined HIV/AIDS as a biological entity, the crucial 'cultural construction' of AIDS, and the effect of this construction on people living with AIDS and the wider public, is poorly understood. This project will assist wider awareness of the fact that public understandings of disease and affected individuals are both culturally mediated and contestable. In examining the important role that artists played in confronting AIDS, this project will also suggest how similar cultural interventions might be employed during existing and future disease epidemics and other public health threats.Read moreRead less
Measuring Asian Art's Contribution to Contemporary Culture in Australia. This project substantially develops the research base of two of Australia's leading community-based arts organisations, advancing the theory and practice of multicultural arts programming. In partnership with a major contemporary art gallery in China, it demonstrates how Asian and Australian art can engender community, regional and international dialogue, offering insight into the transformation of local environments. It ad ....Measuring Asian Art's Contribution to Contemporary Culture in Australia. This project substantially develops the research base of two of Australia's leading community-based arts organisations, advancing the theory and practice of multicultural arts programming. In partnership with a major contemporary art gallery in China, it demonstrates how Asian and Australian art can engender community, regional and international dialogue, offering insight into the transformation of local environments. It addresses existing limitations in multicultural arts programming, positing a model of best practice based on dialogue rather than minority representation. It offers unique doctoral level training in Asian and multicultural arts curatorship and significantly advances the discipline base of visual culture in AustraliaRead moreRead less
Human kind: transforming identity in Australian and British portraits 1700-1900 in the National Gallery of Victoria. The National Gallery of Victoria's outstanding collection of Australian and British portraits, spanning the Enlightenment and the dawn of Federation, say much about this nation's cultural evolution within a global context. This project will produce the first interdisciplinary study of these portraits, enabling their online publication and extensive educational programs.
Spatial dialogues: public art and climate change. This project will yield both social and environmental benefits through the creative ways it combines highly innovative public art projects with electronic social network systems to initiate trans-national civic dialogues on the problem of adaptation to climate change. It extends our sense of urban space to include the regional and global ecologies upon which cities are dependent. The role of water in the city will not only be represented as a vit ....Spatial dialogues: public art and climate change. This project will yield both social and environmental benefits through the creative ways it combines highly innovative public art projects with electronic social network systems to initiate trans-national civic dialogues on the problem of adaptation to climate change. It extends our sense of urban space to include the regional and global ecologies upon which cities are dependent. The role of water in the city will not only be represented as a vital resource, but as an element essential to life and, as such, replete with deep cultural values frequently overlooked in the expedience of everyday urban life.Read moreRead less
Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Australia: researching and relating Australia's manuscript holdings to new technologies and new readers. Building on the productive partnership forged with the State Library of Victoria in the presentation of a recent large-scale manuscript exhibition, this project will research the Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in Australia with reference to the interests of scholars and the general public. National and community benefits include access online to t ....Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Australia: researching and relating Australia's manuscript holdings to new technologies and new readers. Building on the productive partnership forged with the State Library of Victoria in the presentation of a recent large-scale manuscript exhibition, this project will research the Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in Australia with reference to the interests of scholars and the general public. National and community benefits include access online to this precious heritage material and its global connections, and communication of research findings in publications and events designed for a variety of readers and audiences. The project will foster collaboration between curators, librarians and academic scholars and ensure Australia's timely participation in important international initiatives in this fieldRead moreRead less
Photography as a Crime. This project refers specifically to the goal: Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric. By investigating the changing nature of public photography, this research will contribute to mapping contemporary transformations in the configuration and occupation of public space. Shared participation in public spaces is crucial to a healthy society, and to fostering social connectivity by enabling us to build empathetic connections with each other. The ability to unders ....Photography as a Crime. This project refers specifically to the goal: Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric. By investigating the changing nature of public photography, this research will contribute to mapping contemporary transformations in the configuration and occupation of public space. Shared participation in public spaces is crucial to a healthy society, and to fostering social connectivity by enabling us to build empathetic connections with each other. The ability to understand the society in which we live is also central to a safe and secure Australia. Thus, this project will also contribute to Safeguarding Australia, by enhancing the priority goal of Understanding our Region and the World.Read moreRead less
Transforming visualisation in museums: deep mapping for narrative coherence. This project aims to evaluate the use of interactive virtual environments in the museum context. This project plans to create the world's first narrative-driven multi-user ‘deep mapping data browser’ to produce a visualisation of cultural heritage. The project intends to conduct user evaluation across three museum sites — in Australia, Hong Kong and China. Intended outcomes are innovation in museum interpretation and tr ....Transforming visualisation in museums: deep mapping for narrative coherence. This project aims to evaluate the use of interactive virtual environments in the museum context. This project plans to create the world's first narrative-driven multi-user ‘deep mapping data browser’ to produce a visualisation of cultural heritage. The project intends to conduct user evaluation across three museum sites — in Australia, Hong Kong and China. Intended outcomes are innovation in museum interpretation and transformation of public access to digital archives.Read moreRead less