Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities ....Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities. We will develop innovative techniques to date prehistoric biotic and climatic events and, using a range of tracers, characterize ancient environments and groundwater. This project will assist rural and regional Australia through education and job creation in geotourism and natural resource interpretation and provide a mechanism to combat generational skill shortage.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 Visual Mediation of a Complex Narrative: TGH Strehlow's Journey to Horseshoe Bend. TGH Strehlow's biographical memoir, Journey to Horseshoe Bend, is a vivid ethno-historiographic account of Aboriginal, settler and Lutheran communities of Central Australia in the 1920's. This project intends to construct an extensive digital hub elaborating key textual thematics of Aboriginal identity and sense of ?place?, supplemented with oral histories. Consistent with the Strehlow Research Centre's missio ....The Visual Mediation of a Complex Narrative: TGH Strehlow's Journey to Horseshoe Bend. TGH Strehlow's biographical memoir, Journey to Horseshoe Bend, is a vivid ethno-historiographic account of Aboriginal, settler and Lutheran communities of Central Australia in the 1920's. This project intends to construct an extensive digital hub elaborating key textual thematics of Aboriginal identity and sense of ?place?, supplemented with oral histories. Consistent with the Strehlow Research Centre's mission in the management and preservation of the Strehlow Collection's vast archival materials, the project will provide access to and foster engagement with Strehlow's works. The project will employ innovative visual methodologies in the production and mediation of Indigenous knowledge related to the text. Read moreRead less
The role of Queensland Museum collections in producing knowledge of Aboriginal people from Federation to the present day. The project will investigate the production of knowledge about Aboriginal peoples by the Queensland Museum since the late nineteenth century. The focus will be on the changing role of material culture collections in the construal of Aboriginality. The APAI will analyse material culture collection in the context of nation building and will investigate both the changing meaning ....The role of Queensland Museum collections in producing knowledge of Aboriginal people from Federation to the present day. The project will investigate the production of knowledge about Aboriginal peoples by the Queensland Museum since the late nineteenth century. The focus will be on the changing role of material culture collections in the construal of Aboriginality. The APAI will analyse material culture collection in the context of nation building and will investigate both the changing meanings and the contemporary relevance of such collections to Aboriginal communities. The project will produce a body of research that can be used in the design of new exhibitions that will reveal the true complexity of cross-cultural interactions in the development of the Museum's collections.Read moreRead less
Empowering Australia: Collecting and Interpreting the Material Culture of Australian Technology in New South Wales, 1880-1972. In Australian social history, the industrial museum occupies an important but largely forgotten place. Today, Sydney's exciting Powerhouse Museum is increasingly conscious of its legacy and lineage, dating from its creation as the Technological and Sanitary Museum of 1880. Nevertheless, much of the material culture of manufacture and innovation that lies in its collect ....Empowering Australia: Collecting and Interpreting the Material Culture of Australian Technology in New South Wales, 1880-1972. In Australian social history, the industrial museum occupies an important but largely forgotten place. Today, Sydney's exciting Powerhouse Museum is increasingly conscious of its legacy and lineage, dating from its creation as the Technological and Sanitary Museum of 1880. Nevertheless, much of the material culture of manufacture and innovation that lies in its collections remains uninterpreted and inaccessible to historians and the public. This project seeks to 'recover' the past of the Museum, and its role in Sydney's heritage of research, design and the applied arts; and to demonstrate the dynamic relevance of historical research to the Museum's present and forward plannning.Read moreRead less
Short-pulse laser cleaning for Australian heritage conservation. Conserving heritage objects is a demanding discipline, requiring a suite of techniques for different problems. Overseas, laser cleaning using long pulse techniques leaves microscopic damage as discrete chunks of material are removed, and is unsuitable for many materials. We have developed a short pulse laser process which can remove material molecule-by-molecule in a controlled fashion, and which can be readily halted once the fi ....Short-pulse laser cleaning for Australian heritage conservation. Conserving heritage objects is a demanding discipline, requiring a suite of techniques for different problems. Overseas, laser cleaning using long pulse techniques leaves microscopic damage as discrete chunks of material are removed, and is unsuitable for many materials. We have developed a short pulse laser process which can remove material molecule-by-molecule in a controlled fashion, and which can be readily halted once the final finish is achieved. We will research this technique for application to unique Australian heritage materials that are important to the specific conservation needs of the Australian War Memorial, the RAAF, Navy and Army Museums, Artlab Australia, and the Art Gallery of NSW.Read moreRead less
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 Port Adelaide Historical Archaeology (PAHA) project. The aim of this project is to investigate the concept of neighbourhood archaeology in relation to the working class of Port Adelaide. There has been limited previous research on the residents of Port Adelaide and what has been done has mainly been from a town planning and sociological perspective. The traditional history of Port Adelaide has marginalised the role of the residents in the development of Port Adelaide. Archaeological excavati ....The Port Adelaide Historical Archaeology (PAHA) project. The aim of this project is to investigate the concept of neighbourhood archaeology in relation to the working class of Port Adelaide. There has been limited previous research on the residents of Port Adelaide and what has been done has mainly been from a town planning and sociological perspective. The traditional history of Port Adelaide has marginalised the role of the residents in the development of Port Adelaide. Archaeological excavation, therefore, along with extant collections, can provide information not available from other sources. Comparison with previous work undertaken outside Port Adelaide will also provide useful insights into life in early Port Adelaide.Read moreRead less
Change and continuity: chronology, archaeology and art in the North Kimberley, Northwest Australia. The project will tackle some of the most basic questions concerning cultural continuity and change in Australia - in a region that has a long history of 'outside' contact, and a spectacular Aboriginal rock art sequence of world heritage significance. It will be undertaken in partnership with local indigenous communities, representative organisations and other stakeholders, and will provide a venue ....Change and continuity: chronology, archaeology and art in the North Kimberley, Northwest Australia. The project will tackle some of the most basic questions concerning cultural continuity and change in Australia - in a region that has a long history of 'outside' contact, and a spectacular Aboriginal rock art sequence of world heritage significance. It will be undertaken in partnership with local indigenous communities, representative organisations and other stakeholders, and will provide a venue for the training of indigenous and student participants. As well as high quality research outcomes, the project will produce information for strategic management of the Kimberley's unique cultural and natural heritageRead moreRead less
The Dictionary of Sydney. Sydney is a global metropolis with a complex identity and continuously changing form. The Dictionary of Sydney will leverage the contributions of hundreds of researchers to re-present the history of the city using scholarly text, digital multimedia and the Internet. The Dictionary will deliver primary sources, analysis and synthesis to diverse audiences, building on the information delivery expertise of the project partners. The Dictionary will form an invaluable resour ....The Dictionary of Sydney. Sydney is a global metropolis with a complex identity and continuously changing form. The Dictionary of Sydney will leverage the contributions of hundreds of researchers to re-present the history of the city using scholarly text, digital multimedia and the Internet. The Dictionary will deliver primary sources, analysis and synthesis to diverse audiences, building on the information delivery expertise of the project partners. The Dictionary will form an invaluable resource informing urban, heritage and planning policy; providing resources for education and cultural tourism; advancing the application of digital technology in the humanities; and internationally showcasing Australian scholarship.Read moreRead less