Large screens and the transnational public sphere. With over 8 million annual visitors, Federation Square, Melbourne, is emblematic of the new public sphere emerging at the junction of physical space and media networks. Fed Square's large screen is integral to 70 large-scale cultural events hosted at the site each year attracting an average of 30,000 people. This project will establish a partnership between Fed Square, the Australia Council and Art Center Nabi in Seoul, pioneering the exchange o ....Large screens and the transnational public sphere. With over 8 million annual visitors, Federation Square, Melbourne, is emblematic of the new public sphere emerging at the junction of physical space and media networks. Fed Square's large screen is integral to 70 large-scale cultural events hosted at the site each year attracting an average of 30,000 people. This project will establish a partnership between Fed Square, the Australia Council and Art Center Nabi in Seoul, pioneering the exchange of technology and cultural content. The empirical research will generate fresh insights into public interactions with large screens, providing a prototype for future cross-cultural events and offering new theoretical perspectives on the use of public space.Read moreRead less
Information and Cultural Exchange: a study of best practices in community building, participation and cultural citizenship through creative practices. This study relates to the NRP 2: 'Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric'. This project offers new approaches to questions of cultural diversity beyond multiculturalism by bringing together the notions of culture and citizenship, thereby reframing the international debate over cultural citizenship within the Australian context. The p ....Information and Cultural Exchange: a study of best practices in community building, participation and cultural citizenship through creative practices. This study relates to the NRP 2: 'Strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric'. This project offers new approaches to questions of cultural diversity beyond multiculturalism by bringing together the notions of culture and citizenship, thereby reframing the international debate over cultural citizenship within the Australian context. The project places Australia at the leading edge of research on new media, creative practices and citizenship by developing models of 'evaluating evaluation' and benchmarking participation, belonging and cultural citizenship. The research will contribute to improved funding, evaluation and policy priorities for key Arts agencies such as The Australia Council and Arts NSW.Read moreRead less
Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in rel ....Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in relation to human rights issues, and we seek to place current Australian responses to human rights in the context of the dynamically changing region in which we live.Read moreRead less
Fellowship for on site German-Australian collaboration to research the everyday music practices of marginalised youth as pathways to socio-economic inclusion. This project aims to deepen our successful multi-sited collaborative project, DP0345917. Humboldt's Institut fur Sozialwissenschaften has already begun a formal M.O.U. process with The Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia. Cohen's expertise and sustained onsite co-fieldwork with the Australian CIs will augment this link, ....Fellowship for on site German-Australian collaboration to research the everyday music practices of marginalised youth as pathways to socio-economic inclusion. This project aims to deepen our successful multi-sited collaborative project, DP0345917. Humboldt's Institut fur Sozialwissenschaften has already begun a formal M.O.U. process with The Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia. Cohen's expertise and sustained onsite co-fieldwork with the Australian CIs will augment this link, the fellowship further ensuring reciprocal understandings of the specificity of each research site, collaborative publications and consistency of methodological approaches. Adherence to common research aims and objectives and cross-cultural benchmarking will significantly enhance Australian leadership in international best practice in youth policy implementations and development programs.Read moreRead less
The Other Within: Visual Culture through Indigenous, tribal, minority,"subaltern" and multicultural displays in Asia-Pacific museums today. The reseach project will analyse and assess current practice and developing modes of museum representation and inclusion in the changing societies of the Asia-Pacific. Comparative research will be undertaken into Indigenous, tribal, minority, 'subaltern' and multicultural displays in eight museums and four cultural festivals. The research will focus on the ....The Other Within: Visual Culture through Indigenous, tribal, minority,"subaltern" and multicultural displays in Asia-Pacific museums today. The reseach project will analyse and assess current practice and developing modes of museum representation and inclusion in the changing societies of the Asia-Pacific. Comparative research will be undertaken into Indigenous, tribal, minority, 'subaltern' and multicultural displays in eight museums and four cultural festivals. The research will focus on the Industry Partner, the National Museum of Australia. It will develop a model for a non-Eurocentric approach. It will have practical outcomes for all the Investigators in consolidating networks, and producing colloquia, exhibitions, publications and a multimedia presentation.Read moreRead less
Culture in Transition: Creative Labour and Social Mobilities in the Asian Century. Australia's role in the Asian region is changing with the rise of China and India. This Project will benefit Australian communities by increasing knowledge about how the emergence of these nations impacts upon economic growth and innovation, intercultural relations and efforts of social inclusion. The Project will develop new media strategies to inform citizens about how labour relations and mobilities are shiftin ....Culture in Transition: Creative Labour and Social Mobilities in the Asian Century. Australia's role in the Asian region is changing with the rise of China and India. This Project will benefit Australian communities by increasing knowledge about how the emergence of these nations impacts upon economic growth and innovation, intercultural relations and efforts of social inclusion. The Project will develop new media strategies to inform citizens about how labour relations and mobilities are shifting in this regional context. It will also increase public awareness of the changing forms of global urbanism in Chinese and Indian cities and reposition Australian cultural research and policy in ways adequate to the economic and social challenges posed by the so-called Asian century.Read moreRead less
The Wellbeing of Communities: Cultural Activities, Social Health and Community Sustainability. This project will examine the full impact of cultural activities such as arts events, festivals and commemorations on the sustainability of communities. Most contemporary evaluation of community activities tends to assess single events out of context. By contrast, this project will comparatively examine specific communities in depth, and across multiple activities. The project will generate a broad emp ....The Wellbeing of Communities: Cultural Activities, Social Health and Community Sustainability. This project will examine the full impact of cultural activities such as arts events, festivals and commemorations on the sustainability of communities. Most contemporary evaluation of community activities tends to assess single events out of context. By contrast, this project will comparatively examine specific communities in depth, and across multiple activities. The project will generate a broad empirical foundation, hitherto unavailable, for developing an analytical understanding of the relationship between community building and individual wellbeing. It will develop a model for understanding the real effects of cultural practices, enabling governments and funding bodies to assess how best to support communities.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
Urban Imaginaries/Cultural Landscapes: An Asia-Pacific Transnational and Cross-Cultural Research Collaboration. The aim of the program is to foster research collaboration between the ANU's Humanities Research Centre and Lingnan University's Cultural Research and Development Program by examining public culture, transnational culture, urban landscapes and urban cultural identities in the contemporary Asia-Pacific and Australian context. We will do this by extending ties with researchers from the ....Urban Imaginaries/Cultural Landscapes: An Asia-Pacific Transnational and Cross-Cultural Research Collaboration. The aim of the program is to foster research collaboration between the ANU's Humanities Research Centre and Lingnan University's Cultural Research and Development Program by examining public culture, transnational culture, urban landscapes and urban cultural identities in the contemporary Asia-Pacific and Australian context. We will do this by extending ties with researchers from the region including early career and students and by developing a comparative cross-cultural methodology capable of encompassing specific socio-historical patterns and processes of dynamically changing public cultural formations in contemporary urban centres in the Asia-Pacific, including Australia. Specific outcomes include a book, e-journal and a multi-media exhibition.
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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