The Abbey Art Centre: Reassessing postwar Australian art, 1946–1956. In fully documenting Australian artists who worked at the Abbey Arts Centre, London, 1946-56, and the British and European avant-garde in which they mixed, this DP throws light on this historically neglected art colony and recasts conventional understandings of post-WW2 Australian artists’s role in the European postwar period. At a time when this period is being extensively revised within a postcolonial frame, this DP is a time ....The Abbey Art Centre: Reassessing postwar Australian art, 1946–1956. In fully documenting Australian artists who worked at the Abbey Arts Centre, London, 1946-56, and the British and European avant-garde in which they mixed, this DP throws light on this historically neglected art colony and recasts conventional understandings of post-WW2 Australian artists’s role in the European postwar period. At a time when this period is being extensively revised within a postcolonial frame, this DP is a timely contribution to current art historiography that will add significance to Australian art, especially within global institutional contexts. Outcomes include a state gallery exhibition, monograph and catalogue for retail, and potential additions of artworks and archives to national collections.Read moreRead less
Artists as collectors of Islamic Art, 1850-1910. The aim of this project is to generate a new understanding of patterns of collecting and interpreting the arts of the near east through the first cross-cultural comparative study of Ottoman and Orientalist artists as collectors in the 19th century. By mapping transcultural networks of artists, dealers and collectors traversing Ottoman, Russian, Polish, French and British cultures, this study reveals international exchanges that have been occluded ....Artists as collectors of Islamic Art, 1850-1910. The aim of this project is to generate a new understanding of patterns of collecting and interpreting the arts of the near east through the first cross-cultural comparative study of Ottoman and Orientalist artists as collectors in the 19th century. By mapping transcultural networks of artists, dealers and collectors traversing Ottoman, Russian, Polish, French and British cultures, this study reveals international exchanges that have been occluded by studies of Orientalism narrowly focused around single national histories. This project reveals the myriad ways treasures from the Islamic world were being transformed in the 19th century from their prior local religious and cultural functions into exoticism in the West and cultural patrimony in the East.Read moreRead less
Art and Cultural Exchange at the Strait of Gibraltar. The project aims to give a first-time analysis of visual culture at the Strait of Gibraltar. It asks how painting, photography, film, and maps relate to colonial expansion, with a focus on Australian, French and Spanish involvement in the Western Mediterranean. The British fortress-colony of Gibraltar and the international Moroccan port of Tangier have never before been subject to comparative analysis. Key outcomes include two major exhibit ....Art and Cultural Exchange at the Strait of Gibraltar. The project aims to give a first-time analysis of visual culture at the Strait of Gibraltar. It asks how painting, photography, film, and maps relate to colonial expansion, with a focus on Australian, French and Spanish involvement in the Western Mediterranean. The British fortress-colony of Gibraltar and the international Moroccan port of Tangier have never before been subject to comparative analysis. Key outcomes include two major exhibitions, one on Australian Orientalism at the National Gallery and the second on historical art in the region. By shedding historical light on people smuggling, contraband and post-Brexit identity at the Strait, the project aims to generate cultural knowledge pertinent to international co-operation.Read moreRead less
Performing transdisciplinarity. This project aims to use the illustrated songbook, a performative genre which fuses image, music and text, to study the transdisciplinary nature of 18th-century print culture. Through multifaceted research on an exemplary songbook, this project will create a multimedia digital interface for linking deep disciplinary knowledge and the recreation of the sounds, sensibilities, and social mores of 18th-century France. The project's model of rich digital understanding ....Performing transdisciplinarity. This project aims to use the illustrated songbook, a performative genre which fuses image, music and text, to study the transdisciplinary nature of 18th-century print culture. Through multifaceted research on an exemplary songbook, this project will create a multimedia digital interface for linking deep disciplinary knowledge and the recreation of the sounds, sensibilities, and social mores of 18th-century France. The project's model of rich digital understanding has potential benefits for cultural institutions whose complex objects lie dormant or underused.Read moreRead less
Art, theatre and community in eighteenth century France. This project explores networks of creativity and innovation binding visual artists and the theatrical world in eighteenth century France. It argues for a community-based understanding of relationships between artists and theatre people, and that these intricate knots of creative agency have tangible effects on the course of art and drama.