The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. The anthology will be a major scholarly work. Its publication will stimulate scholarship in the Humanities. The project will also renew mainstream interest in the scope and sophistication of Australian literature. Many new works will be introduced to Australian readers, to education systems and to literary scholarship. The stand-alone anthology of Indigenous literature will enhance the public profile of Indigenous writers and will provide ....The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. The anthology will be a major scholarly work. Its publication will stimulate scholarship in the Humanities. The project will also renew mainstream interest in the scope and sophistication of Australian literature. Many new works will be introduced to Australian readers, to education systems and to literary scholarship. The stand-alone anthology of Indigenous literature will enhance the public profile of Indigenous writers and will provide a vehicle for the representation of Indigenous culture and history to non-Indigenous Australians, who are often unable to access such knowledge and voices in print. New critical perspectives will ensure a valuable public resource, and understandings of Australian society will be enriched.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
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provid ....THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provide an integrated research analysis of the extensive, but disparate, archives on Australian modernism. It will communicate its research findings through a new scholarly study, a major large-scale travelling public exhibition, a CD, and a website.Read moreRead less
The role of piano music, and the piano manufacturing industry in Australia's cultural history. This project aims to re-examine Australia's cultural heritage through a study of the history of the piano. The study will research the Australian piano manufacturing industry; the piano roll recording industry and a significant group of pianist composers.
Rediscovering Australia's Musical Achievements: Creating Critical Editions of Significant Scores. Many Australian music manuscripts languish in archives and collections unperformed, unrecorded, and little known. The project aims to create critical editions of selected manuscripts, consolidating and making available work I have already done. Scholarly editing of manuscript scores is not copy editing, but a highly skilled process requiring extensive knowledge of musical styles and an informed abil ....Rediscovering Australia's Musical Achievements: Creating Critical Editions of Significant Scores. Many Australian music manuscripts languish in archives and collections unperformed, unrecorded, and little known. The project aims to create critical editions of selected manuscripts, consolidating and making available work I have already done. Scholarly editing of manuscript scores is not copy editing, but a highly skilled process requiring extensive knowledge of musical styles and an informed ability to interpret composer's intentions. The need is urgent. Many manuscripts are in a serious state of deterioration. It is through the dissemination of our music in printed form that performers, scholars, and educators - nationally and internationally - can give it deserving attention.Read moreRead less
Star actors and management in Australia 1880s-1920s. The project studies early twentieth-century star actors who worked for Australian commercial managements, in order to locate how the cultural impact of theatrical performers was mediated by their immediate industrial situations and their artistic profiles. It selects four significant male and female touring stars who performed in spectacular costume drama, in association with JC Williamson's Ltd and other entrepreneurial organisations. The in ....Star actors and management in Australia 1880s-1920s. The project studies early twentieth-century star actors who worked for Australian commercial managements, in order to locate how the cultural impact of theatrical performers was mediated by their immediate industrial situations and their artistic profiles. It selects four significant male and female touring stars who performed in spectacular costume drama, in association with JC Williamson's Ltd and other entrepreneurial organisations. The investigation relates the negotiations between both managerial and labour structures involving actors to their artistic opportunities and repertoire. It will produce a materially-informed account of the social presence and cultural meanings embodied by the glamourous theatrical star in Australia.Read moreRead less
Light, place and presence in the history of Australian photography. Photography is central to Australian history and national identity. It is a powerful tool through which our identities are forged, and through photography our understanding of our place in relation to our environments, each other and the world are made visible. By grounding this research in the unique status of light as a physical agent in photography and a key symbol of identity and place in Australia, this project will develop ....Light, place and presence in the history of Australian photography. Photography is central to Australian history and national identity. It is a powerful tool through which our identities are forged, and through photography our understanding of our place in relation to our environments, each other and the world are made visible. By grounding this research in the unique status of light as a physical agent in photography and a key symbol of identity and place in Australia, this project will develop a new approach to photography that enriches our social and cultural imagination, and propels Australian scholarship onto the international agenda. Read moreRead less
A Non-National History of Australian Art. With their emphasis on national identity, the existing accounts of Australian art remain stuck in the 19th century. In a time of increased globalisation and international co-operation, it is worth remembering that Australian art has long been part of the wider community. This new history of Australian art seeks to recount a long and confident history of artistic collaboration between Australia and the rest of the world. It thus seeks to provide a new und ....A Non-National History of Australian Art. With their emphasis on national identity, the existing accounts of Australian art remain stuck in the 19th century. In a time of increased globalisation and international co-operation, it is worth remembering that Australian art has long been part of the wider community. This new history of Australian art seeks to recount a long and confident history of artistic collaboration between Australia and the rest of the world. It thus seeks to provide a new understanding of ourselves and a refutation of the long-running notion of cultural cringe, which can only be maintained -- in the visual arts, at least -- in denial of the historical record.Read moreRead less
The BYSTANDER FIELD: immersive 'feedback' environments for exhibiting and dramatically interacting with semiotic, aesthetic and emotional patterns in archived imagery. The BYSTANDER FIELD investigates dramatic new ways to exhibit, interrogate and interpret archived imagery. Immersing visitors bodily in a 'turbulent' environment of user-activated images, sounds and texts, all cross-referenced and inter-dependent, the project encourages interactive comprehension of cultural collections and the so ....The BYSTANDER FIELD: immersive 'feedback' environments for exhibiting and dramatically interacting with semiotic, aesthetic and emotional patterns in archived imagery. The BYSTANDER FIELD investigates dramatic new ways to exhibit, interrogate and interpret archived imagery. Immersing visitors bodily in a 'turbulent' environment of user-activated images, sounds and texts, all cross-referenced and inter-dependent, the project encourages interactive comprehension of cultural collections and the societies that spawned them.
The research method is iterative and evolutionary: critique of existing literature, designs and technologies; repeated, rapid prototyping leading to test-exhibit; final critique of user-experience; report on knowledge generated.
Outcomes are theoretical and practical: reports delivering new knowledge; audience-tested systems of display and interpretation which are scaleable to several museological and architectural scenarios.Read moreRead less
Indigenous Placemaking in Central Melbourne: Representations, practices and creative research. This project will contribute to making a place of belonging, gathering and cultural exchange for and with Indignenous Australians in Melbourne, through dialogic research processes aimed at generating a more inclusive and dynamic understanding of Indigenous identity. It will provide a platform for reconciliatory activities in Victoria with the support of Victorian Indigenous Communities, Reconciliation ....Indigenous Placemaking in Central Melbourne: Representations, practices and creative research. This project will contribute to making a place of belonging, gathering and cultural exchange for and with Indignenous Australians in Melbourne, through dialogic research processes aimed at generating a more inclusive and dynamic understanding of Indigenous identity. It will provide a platform for reconciliatory activities in Victoria with the support of Victorian Indigenous Communities, Reconciliation Victoria, and the Melbourne City Council and educate the public regarding the need for such a facility. It will increase Melbourne's national and international profile by contributing to the provision of a world class cultural centre that engages international tourists and informing future institutional programs.Read moreRead less