Care and Repair: Rethinking Contemporary Curation for Conditions of Crisis. This project aims to address the significant challenge of how to curate contemporary art under conditions of crisis, made acute by the pandemic. It expects to generate new knowledge in the growth areas of contemporary art and curatorial practice, which will be translatable to creative industries seeking solutions to similar challenges. Anticipated outcomes include new models for sustainable, future-oriented creative prac ....Care and Repair: Rethinking Contemporary Curation for Conditions of Crisis. This project aims to address the significant challenge of how to curate contemporary art under conditions of crisis, made acute by the pandemic. It expects to generate new knowledge in the growth areas of contemporary art and curatorial practice, which will be translatable to creative industries seeking solutions to similar challenges. Anticipated outcomes include new models for sustainable, future-oriented creative practice; a stronger international profile for Australian artists and curators; and the establishment of a regional network of artists and curators between Australia and Southeast Asia. This should significantly aid our understanding of how to meet current and future challenges to producers and audiences of contemporary art.Read moreRead less
Envisaging Citizenship: Australian Histories and Global Connections. This project aims to investigate the ways that visual images have defined, contested and advanced ideas of Australian citizenship and rights from European settlement to the present. Responding to the lack of a shared mainstream understanding of Australian citizenship, it looks beyond legal definitions to explore cultural and especially visual views of citizenship over time. Through collaboration with museum, media and education ....Envisaging Citizenship: Australian Histories and Global Connections. This project aims to investigate the ways that visual images have defined, contested and advanced ideas of Australian citizenship and rights from European settlement to the present. Responding to the lack of a shared mainstream understanding of Australian citizenship, it looks beyond legal definitions to explore cultural and especially visual views of citizenship over time. Through collaboration with museum, media and education sectors, it will provide a forward-looking and accessible public history, and utilise the potential of images to broaden contemporary debates about citizenship. Expected outcomes include a better public understanding of the pathways to citizenship, and enhanced engagement with Australian values and identity.Read moreRead less
“The Complete Craze”: Women’s Photography and Colonial Modernity in the Asia-Pacific, 1860-1930. To date there has been no sustained research into the photography produced by women in the Asia-Pacific region in the late colonial era even though much of it was aesthetically sophisticated and innovative. Combining historical research with postcolonial and gender theory, this project critically examines a large body of images by women photographers working across the region. It identifies the facto ....“The Complete Craze”: Women’s Photography and Colonial Modernity in the Asia-Pacific, 1860-1930. To date there has been no sustained research into the photography produced by women in the Asia-Pacific region in the late colonial era even though much of it was aesthetically sophisticated and innovative. Combining historical research with postcolonial and gender theory, this project critically examines a large body of images by women photographers working across the region. It identifies the factors enabling these women to be examined as a group, investigates their subject matter, techniques and styles, and establishes what was exciting and new, as well as conventional, about their methods. It also shows how their artworks both reflected and contributed to the region’s burgeoning modernity. Read moreRead less
Representation of gender and sexual diversity in Australian film and television. This project aims to investigate the cultural, health and identity impact of gender/sexually-diverse characters, themes and narratives in Australian film and television from 1990 to present. The project expects to generate new knowledge by providing the first comprehensive account of Australian media production’s contribution to sexual minority representation, in the context of its importance for fostering healthy i ....Representation of gender and sexual diversity in Australian film and television. This project aims to investigate the cultural, health and identity impact of gender/sexually-diverse characters, themes and narratives in Australian film and television from 1990 to present. The project expects to generate new knowledge by providing the first comprehensive account of Australian media production’s contribution to sexual minority representation, in the context of its importance for fostering healthy identities, and acceptance of minorities to mainstream audiences in a digital media era. This knowledge will provide significant benefit to the mental health, wellbeing and social harmony for both minority and mainstream Australians and help showcase an important aspect of Australian media inclusivity and diversity in international scholarship.Read moreRead less
Using AI to reveal the true extent & context of alcohol exposure in videos. This project aims to extend an artificial intelligence algorithm to automatically identify and quantify alcohol prevalence in videos. The project is expected to generate significant new knowledge about alcohol’s exposure in these videos’ social, emotional, and environmental contexts. The expected outcomes include a more efficient and automated method of revealing alcohol pervasiveness and its context in the 1000 most wat ....Using AI to reveal the true extent & context of alcohol exposure in videos. This project aims to extend an artificial intelligence algorithm to automatically identify and quantify alcohol prevalence in videos. The project is expected to generate significant new knowledge about alcohol’s exposure in these videos’ social, emotional, and environmental contexts. The expected outcomes include a more efficient and automated method of revealing alcohol pervasiveness and its context in the 1000 most watched videos in Australia, making costly manual coding redundant. Anticipated benefits include enabling governments to better monitor compliance to alcohol product placement guidelines and increased public awareness of the frequency and harmful effects of being exposed to alcohol in videos.Read moreRead less
Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status. Women impacted by mental illness, disability or refugee status are among society’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups. Such women can experience significant social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma, associated with reduced help seeking, deprivation of dignity and human rights, and threats to health, well-being and quality of life. However, many women demonstrate resilience and agency, associated with positive health o ....Women marginalised by mental health, disability or refugee status. Women impacted by mental illness, disability or refugee status are among society’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups. Such women can experience significant social exclusion, marginalisation and stigma, associated with reduced help seeking, deprivation of dignity and human rights, and threats to health, well-being and quality of life. However, many women demonstrate resilience and agency, associated with positive health outcomes. This research will identify how women negotiate stigma and potential marginalisation, to inform health policy, and target interventions for vulnerable women, generating much-needed insight on women’s embodiment of stigma, and strategies used to cope with, negotiate and resist their stigmatised identities. Read moreRead less
Digital photography: mediation, memory and visual communication. This project aims to address the social impact of major shifts in the production, distribution, viewing and storage of photographic images which have profoundly altered their everyday use. By adopting an interdisciplinary, user-centred approach to digitally networked photography, the project will provide a more holistic understanding of how photographs mediate communication, sociality and memory in the present. Expected outcomes i ....Digital photography: mediation, memory and visual communication. This project aims to address the social impact of major shifts in the production, distribution, viewing and storage of photographic images which have profoundly altered their everyday use. By adopting an interdisciplinary, user-centred approach to digitally networked photography, the project will provide a more holistic understanding of how photographs mediate communication, sociality and memory in the present. Expected outcomes include generating original empirical data, building international collaboration, and creating a new conceptual framework for assessing contemporary photographic practices. The research will provide community benefit by enabling insight into the social and ethical tensions affecting photography in the present.
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Tree-mediated methane fluxes: A new frontier in the global carbon cycle. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Recent evidence suggests that tree-mediated fluxes may be a significant, but overlooked source of methane to the atmosphere. This project aims to quantify the magnitude and drivers of tree-mediated methane fluxes from Australia’s dominant forest types. Innovatively, we will be using a novel combination of empirical field based measurements, gas tracer experiments, microbial ana ....Tree-mediated methane fluxes: A new frontier in the global carbon cycle. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Recent evidence suggests that tree-mediated fluxes may be a significant, but overlooked source of methane to the atmosphere. This project aims to quantify the magnitude and drivers of tree-mediated methane fluxes from Australia’s dominant forest types. Innovatively, we will be using a novel combination of empirical field based measurements, gas tracer experiments, microbial analysis and modelling methods. Expected outcomes are a mechanistic understanding of tree-mediated methane fluxes, helping to constrain regional, national and global methane budgets. The results of this study will help inform publicly funded greenhouse gas abatement strategies, ensuring a maximal return on investment.Read moreRead less
A Universal Power Law for Growth and Diversity of Dinosaur and Bird Beaks. Universal rules that govern how animals grow have tremendous power to explain the highly complex processes of growth and development. The project investigators have recently discovered a new rule of growth that controls how teeth, horns, claws and beaks are generated in animals. This project aims to use this new rule to examine the evolution and diversity of beaks in birds and dinosaurs. By combining 3D modelling, biomech ....A Universal Power Law for Growth and Diversity of Dinosaur and Bird Beaks. Universal rules that govern how animals grow have tremendous power to explain the highly complex processes of growth and development. The project investigators have recently discovered a new rule of growth that controls how teeth, horns, claws and beaks are generated in animals. This project aims to use this new rule to examine the evolution and diversity of beaks in birds and dinosaurs. By combining 3D modelling, biomechanics and genetic analysis of bird beak development with the study of dinosaur fossils, this project expects to reveal the underlying processes controlling the growth and evolution of beaks. The anticipated goal of this project is to show the power of new theoretical models to explain the diversity of life.Read moreRead less
Connecting Indigenous Community Photographies: a transnational case study. The project aims to conduct the first transnational comparison of Indigenous community-controlled photography, exploring Indigenous peoples’ ways of seeing and documenting their worlds. The project seeks to significantly advance Australian and global understanding of Indigenous vernacular photography through investigating formerly unexplored private collections of images created by Indigenous photographers during the mid ....Connecting Indigenous Community Photographies: a transnational case study. The project aims to conduct the first transnational comparison of Indigenous community-controlled photography, exploring Indigenous peoples’ ways of seeing and documenting their worlds. The project seeks to significantly advance Australian and global understanding of Indigenous vernacular photography through investigating formerly unexplored private collections of images created by Indigenous photographers during the mid 20th Century in four communities across three countries. One of the outcomes of the project is a nuanced visual history that cannot be excavated from other sources. The benefits of this project include public exhibitions, a book, symposiums, and a scholarly anthology that encourages the public’s connection with the past.Read moreRead less