Affect and Expression in Women's Art in Art Movements of the 1960s and 70s. Through a study of four artists, this project will constitute a major revision of the way art history understands the key art movements of the 1960s and 70s. The study will focus on four women artists?each representing a key movement of the period: Hesse (minimalism), Clark (conceptualism), Cha (conceptualism), Mendieta (land art)?and will demonstrate that their approach to affective expression is the key to understandin ....Affect and Expression in Women's Art in Art Movements of the 1960s and 70s. Through a study of four artists, this project will constitute a major revision of the way art history understands the key art movements of the 1960s and 70s. The study will focus on four women artists?each representing a key movement of the period: Hesse (minimalism), Clark (conceptualism), Cha (conceptualism), Mendieta (land art)?and will demonstrate that their approach to affective expression is the key to understanding their contribution to the development of late-modern art. In the process it will reveal the shortcomings of existing art historical interpretations that see these movements as aiming to eliminate expression and subjectivity.Read moreRead less
Feminist theory meets indigenous art. Aboriginal reconciliation is high on the social and cultural agenda in Australian life. The place of art in this political moment has been critical - the culture of Australian indigenous people has come to international attention, and won recognition, largely through art works. This reflects in many cases a political strategy on the part of indigenous communities to use art to depict their traditional Dreamings, of which the world was ignorant. But underlyin ....Feminist theory meets indigenous art. Aboriginal reconciliation is high on the social and cultural agenda in Australian life. The place of art in this political moment has been critical - the culture of Australian indigenous people has come to international attention, and won recognition, largely through art works. This reflects in many cases a political strategy on the part of indigenous communities to use art to depict their traditional Dreamings, of which the world was ignorant. But underlying this, is the assumption made in Aboriginal philosophies that the art is the knowledge it portrays, which in turn evokes title to land through the law of Dreaming, of belonging to "country". To better understand this negotiation advances debate on issues surrounding reconciliation.Read moreRead less
The Field of Artistic Production in Colonial Australia: People, Institutions, History. This study of the development of Australian art in the nineteenth century focuses on the citizens, infrastructure and institutions that fostered the production of the visual arts. It eschews a Sydney-Melbourne bias in favour of the ?regions? and goes beyond ?professional? cultural elites to include amateurs, women, activists and entrepreneurs who cajoled the public and government into supporting a visual arts ....The Field of Artistic Production in Colonial Australia: People, Institutions, History. This study of the development of Australian art in the nineteenth century focuses on the citizens, infrastructure and institutions that fostered the production of the visual arts. It eschews a Sydney-Melbourne bias in favour of the ?regions? and goes beyond ?professional? cultural elites to include amateurs, women, activists and entrepreneurs who cajoled the public and government into supporting a visual arts infrastructure. This study is of regional benefit and will interest art and cultural historians and policy-makers in heritage management, cultural policy and cultural tourism. The outcomes will include a major book and a database of archival sources.Read moreRead less
Colonial Publishing and Literary Democracy in Australia: an analysis of the influences on Australian literature of British and Australian publishing. Colonial Publishing and Literary Democracy is concerned with the complex relationship between colonialism and nationalism within the context of Australia as a settler society and involves an exploration of the powerful but complicated interplay between literature, law and commerce as expressed through the production of the Australian novel. The pr ....Colonial Publishing and Literary Democracy in Australia: an analysis of the influences on Australian literature of British and Australian publishing. Colonial Publishing and Literary Democracy is concerned with the complex relationship between colonialism and nationalism within the context of Australia as a settler society and involves an exploration of the powerful but complicated interplay between literature, law and commerce as expressed through the production of the Australian novel. The project proceeds from an assumption that for much of the twentieth century literature was the flagship of national creativity in an industry worth around $1 billion pa at century's end. From that perspective, it engages directly with the cultural capital and heritage of the nation.Read moreRead less
Investigation into digital games and Australian female digital game culture. The project investigates new paradigms for digital games specifically oriented to young female users, aged from 16 to 25 years. This study explores female digital game culture, particularly in Australia, to create solutions that support gender equity, and will involve research into innovative design of multi-user online games. It aims to produce, test and refine online prototypes involving different gameplay scenarios, ....Investigation into digital games and Australian female digital game culture. The project investigates new paradigms for digital games specifically oriented to young female users, aged from 16 to 25 years. This study explores female digital game culture, particularly in Australia, to create solutions that support gender equity, and will involve research into innovative design of multi-user online games. It aims to produce, test and refine online prototypes involving different gameplay scenarios, as well as produce theoretical reports to be published in journals, mailing lists and conference proceedings.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
Aboriginal Femininity and Modern Identity: Gender and Race in the Late Colonial Visual Scene. The project is the first sustained cultural history of Aboriginal femininity in Australian from 1870-1967. It will draw on diverse forms of modern visual culture: painting, black and white drawing, mass commodity spectacle, film and photography, to investigate six modes of production of Aboriginal feminine visibility: the 'primitive' woman in Western exhibiting practices such as colonial museums: the pe ....Aboriginal Femininity and Modern Identity: Gender and Race in the Late Colonial Visual Scene. The project is the first sustained cultural history of Aboriginal femininity in Australian from 1870-1967. It will draw on diverse forms of modern visual culture: painting, black and white drawing, mass commodity spectacle, film and photography, to investigate six modes of production of Aboriginal feminine visibility: the 'primitive' woman in Western exhibiting practices such as colonial museums: the perceived failure of 'Mission Mary' to appear modern; the relation of Aboriginal femininity to imported forms of exoticism; the fetishism of Indigenous women; girl piccaninny kitsch in domestic and tourist ornaments; and the entrance of public Aboriginal women and celebrities into modernity.
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Regenerating the Body: Modern Art, Neo-Darwinism and the Fitness Imperative. Drawing upon histories of art, popular culture, medicine, science and sport, this project proposes that a reconceptualization and reimaging of the human body occurred in Western art and culture, from the end of the nineteenth century, through fitness becoming a Neo-Darwinist imperative. By demonstrating how regeneration facilitated the normalization and 'subjectification? of the body for procreative sexuality, technol ....Regenerating the Body: Modern Art, Neo-Darwinism and the Fitness Imperative. Drawing upon histories of art, popular culture, medicine, science and sport, this project proposes that a reconceptualization and reimaging of the human body occurred in Western art and culture, from the end of the nineteenth century, through fitness becoming a Neo-Darwinist imperative. By demonstrating how regeneration facilitated the normalization and 'subjectification? of the body for procreative sexuality, technologized industry and modern warfare, it substantially revises Michel Foucault's ?biopolitical? theories. In identifying how beauty became inscribed upon the regenerated body and abjection upon the degenerate ?other?, it reveals that the quest for biogenetics emerged long before it became a reality in Nazi Germany.Read moreRead less
Fathers and Friends: Patronage and Patriarchy in Renaissance Florence. This study of patronage and patriarchy in Renaissance Florence, analysing social networks and structures and the relationship between politics, the state, personal behaviour and cultural innovation, addresses issues central to understanding how cultures are constructed. Since the entwined structures and discourses of power, state, and culture that shaped our nation were laid down in Renaissance Europe, the quality of life in ....Fathers and Friends: Patronage and Patriarchy in Renaissance Florence. This study of patronage and patriarchy in Renaissance Florence, analysing social networks and structures and the relationship between politics, the state, personal behaviour and cultural innovation, addresses issues central to understanding how cultures are constructed. Since the entwined structures and discourses of power, state, and culture that shaped our nation were laid down in Renaissance Europe, the quality of life in our multi-cultural communities, the negotiation of our changing relation to the global community, and current public discussions about philanthropy and the investment of cultural capital would benefit from this project, which will add to Australia's investment in international research at the highest level.Read moreRead less
The impact of Aboriginal art on contemporary urban Australian art. With art people picture and shape their sense of self and national identity. In a time of increasing fragmentation of these identities it is imperative to better understand the shifting politics of representation in today's world. Australia's relationship with its indigenous populations has been the source of major divisions in the Australian community. By showing the positive impact of Aboriginal art on contemporary art, this pr ....The impact of Aboriginal art on contemporary urban Australian art. With art people picture and shape their sense of self and national identity. In a time of increasing fragmentation of these identities it is imperative to better understand the shifting politics of representation in today's world. Australia's relationship with its indigenous populations has been the source of major divisions in the Australian community. By showing the positive impact of Aboriginal art on contemporary art, this project will contribute to a more cohesive national identity. The publication of three books, a national touring exhibition and a web-based database will contribute significantly to the intellectual life of the country and bring this important achievement of Australian cultural life to the wider public.Read moreRead less