The art of Albert Namatjira: cultural legacy and artistic mediation. This project is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural study that will assess the impact of Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira. The project will use the expertise of the partners to interrogate interconnections between the aesthetics of the natural world and its representation by Namatjira. It will examine the nexus between art and life and their ideological constructions in specific cross-cultural encounters. The basis for the ....The art of Albert Namatjira: cultural legacy and artistic mediation. This project is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural study that will assess the impact of Aboriginal artist, Albert Namatjira. The project will use the expertise of the partners to interrogate interconnections between the aesthetics of the natural world and its representation by Namatjira. It will examine the nexus between art and life and their ideological constructions in specific cross-cultural encounters. The basis for the project's success will be a productive exchange between the Indigenous communities, represented by the Industry Partner, and researchers. The outcomes will include a doctoral dissertation, publications, exhibitions and a digital archive.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
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
Aboriginal Femininity and Modern Identity: Gender and Race in the Late Colonial Visual Scene. The project is the first sustained cultural history of Aboriginal femininity in Australian from 1870-1967. It will draw on diverse forms of modern visual culture: painting, black and white drawing, mass commodity spectacle, film and photography, to investigate six modes of production of Aboriginal feminine visibility: the 'primitive' woman in Western exhibiting practices such as colonial museums: the pe ....Aboriginal Femininity and Modern Identity: Gender and Race in the Late Colonial Visual Scene. The project is the first sustained cultural history of Aboriginal femininity in Australian from 1870-1967. It will draw on diverse forms of modern visual culture: painting, black and white drawing, mass commodity spectacle, film and photography, to investigate six modes of production of Aboriginal feminine visibility: the 'primitive' woman in Western exhibiting practices such as colonial museums: the perceived failure of 'Mission Mary' to appear modern; the relation of Aboriginal femininity to imported forms of exoticism; the fetishism of Indigenous women; girl piccaninny kitsch in domestic and tourist ornaments; and the entrance of public Aboriginal women and celebrities into modernity.
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Performing Indigenous Sovereignty: Aboriginal Australian commercial performances 1800-1949. This project strengthens our understanding of Australia's place in the world and enhances our capacity to interpret ourselves by substantially enriching knowledge about Australian race relations in the nineteenth century. This new knowledge about Indigenous participation within the material and cultural economies of Australia adds significant new dimensions to Australian cultural history. This also contr ....Performing Indigenous Sovereignty: Aboriginal Australian commercial performances 1800-1949. This project strengthens our understanding of Australia's place in the world and enhances our capacity to interpret ourselves by substantially enriching knowledge about Australian race relations in the nineteenth century. This new knowledge about Indigenous participation within the material and cultural economies of Australia adds significant new dimensions to Australian cultural history. This also contributes to Australia's internationally recognised leadership in cross-cultural performance studies, informing pedagogy and scholarship. This project has the added benefit of contributing to the mental health and well being of Indigenous people by reclaiming positive elements of their cultural history since colonisation.Read moreRead less
Transnational and cross-cultural choreographies: the politics of cultural transmission in Australian dance, 1970 - 2000. This project will highlight the rich cultural diversity of Australian dance and choreography. Its methodology will facilitate critical debate about cross-cultural dynamics in the performing arts with national and international dance artists and cultural scholars. The research outcomes will give a distinctively Australian focus to international dance studies and generate new kn ....Transnational and cross-cultural choreographies: the politics of cultural transmission in Australian dance, 1970 - 2000. This project will highlight the rich cultural diversity of Australian dance and choreography. Its methodology will facilitate critical debate about cross-cultural dynamics in the performing arts with national and international dance artists and cultural scholars. The research outcomes will give a distinctively Australian focus to international dance studies and generate new knowledges about the recent cultural history of Australian dance. And they will give global prominence to the unique transnational influences that shape Australian culture. As a result, the project will shift dance studies in Australia from an embryonic field of scholarly interest to a significant field of cultural research.Read moreRead less
A cultural and historical analysis of Australian live theatre recordings preserved in the archives of ABC Television and Channel Nine. This project aims to enhance the study of Australian theatre history with two PhD theses identifying and analysing the motion-picture records of live theatre in the archives of ABC Television and Channel Nine. At a time when Australian theatre practitioners are gaining worldwide recognition, this project will assist scholars to analyse Australian theatre history ....A cultural and historical analysis of Australian live theatre recordings preserved in the archives of ABC Television and Channel Nine. This project aims to enhance the study of Australian theatre history with two PhD theses identifying and analysing the motion-picture records of live theatre in the archives of ABC Television and Channel Nine. At a time when Australian theatre practitioners are gaining worldwide recognition, this project will assist scholars to analyse Australian theatre history with a focus on live performance and production. The project will result in a detailed database/directory of material showing Australian live theatre on film and video, as well as two dissertations providing an in-depth scholarly description and cultural analysis of that material.Read moreRead less
The Power of Giving: Australian Women Philanthropists, 1880-2000. This collaborative project with the National Foundation for Australian Women explores the changing extent and nature of Australian women's philanthropic giving since1880. It will test the hypothesis that these activities both reflected broader constructions of gender and shaped civil society and public policy. The outcome will be enhanced understanding of changing gender relations, and elite women's identity, and a greatly expande ....The Power of Giving: Australian Women Philanthropists, 1880-2000. This collaborative project with the National Foundation for Australian Women explores the changing extent and nature of Australian women's philanthropic giving since1880. It will test the hypothesis that these activities both reflected broader constructions of gender and shaped civil society and public policy. The outcome will be enhanced understanding of changing gender relations, and elite women's identity, and a greatly expanded knowledge of the third sector. Given women's increasing wealth, such an understanding is not only of scholarly interest but is crucial for the nonprofit sector, including our industry partner, and for government interest in promoting philanthropic giving in Australia.Read moreRead less
Popular Cultures and Social Change: Case Studies from Rural Queensland. Two APAI students will study patterns of popular cultural participation and performance in rural/regional Queensland based on selected case studies. The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Queensland Museum and the State Library of Queensland. Two independent but complementary PhD topics will analyse contrasting forms of popular culture and contrasting rural/regional places across periods of major social cha ....Popular Cultures and Social Change: Case Studies from Rural Queensland. Two APAI students will study patterns of popular cultural participation and performance in rural/regional Queensland based on selected case studies. The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Queensland Museum and the State Library of Queensland. Two independent but complementary PhD topics will analyse contrasting forms of popular culture and contrasting rural/regional places across periods of major social change in the 1960s-70s and 1990s-present. The research will examine the major dynamics affecting old and new forms of popular culture in rural/regional Queensland and the role of popular cultures in identity and community building.Read moreRead less