Temporal segmentation, leadership and cognition in musical improvisation and creativity. Improvisation is core to conversation and to creative and social emergence. This project investigates musical improvisation, in order to reveal constituent processes, using computational and cognitive approaches. Mechanisms for generating transitions in the temporal stream, and for asserting social power or position in it are assessed. Improvised material can be explored, modified, and developed in the creat ....Temporal segmentation, leadership and cognition in musical improvisation and creativity. Improvisation is core to conversation and to creative and social emergence. This project investigates musical improvisation, in order to reveal constituent processes, using computational and cognitive approaches. Mechanisms for generating transitions in the temporal stream, and for asserting social power or position in it are assessed. Improvised material can be explored, modified, and developed in the creative process, and the project investigates how this occurs and whether computers can facilitate the process. Such contributions can be critical to the development of innovation in research and cultural arenas in Australia. Read moreRead less
Melpa Kang Rom: A chanted narrative genre from Highland New Guinea and its role in contemporary electoral politics. Across a large region of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of chanted tales. These are the subject of a current ARC Discovery project based at ANU, which focuses on both the poetic features of these genres and on their political uses. We seek to augment this project through the participation of Dr. Joseph Ketan, an anthropologist with unique qualifications in that he co ....Melpa Kang Rom: A chanted narrative genre from Highland New Guinea and its role in contemporary electoral politics. Across a large region of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of chanted tales. These are the subject of a current ARC Discovery project based at ANU, which focuses on both the poetic features of these genres and on their political uses. We seek to augment this project through the participation of Dr. Joseph Ketan, an anthropologist with unique qualifications in that he comes from the project area, with an insider's knowledge of a local genre of chanted tales and its contexts of use in electoral campaigns, and with extensive previous research in relevant areas of political anthropology. The project will contribute to the cross-cultural study of verbal art, and to and the understanding of contemporary electoral politics in PNG.Read moreRead less
Conceiving Connections: Increasing industry viability through analysis of audience responses to dance performance. The development of audiences is identified by the Australian dance industry as vital to the future of the sector. The current project will investigate how audiences respond to highly evolved dance-works. It will explore the kinds of meaning communicated by such works, and the value assigned to them by tutored and untutored audiences. Methods for enhancing audience engagement will be ....Conceiving Connections: Increasing industry viability through analysis of audience responses to dance performance. The development of audiences is identified by the Australian dance industry as vital to the future of the sector. The current project will investigate how audiences respond to highly evolved dance-works. It will explore the kinds of meaning communicated by such works, and the value assigned to them by tutored and untutored audiences. Methods for enhancing audience engagement will be tested through studies in both metropolitan and regional centres. Dance-scholars, artists and cognitive psychologists collaborate with three industry partners to identify and address significant concerns for artists, presenters, advocates and funding bodies, and to train postgraduate reserachers in inter-disciplinary modes.Read moreRead less
Popular music and cultural memory: Localised popular music histories and their significance for national music industries. This project provides a public space for audience members in local communities in Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, UK and USA to share their memories of local popular music heritage. By privileging these voices, the project has the potential to develop and strengthen community cohesion and also raise questions of how these voices might be incorporated into the production ....Popular music and cultural memory: Localised popular music histories and their significance for national music industries. This project provides a public space for audience members in local communities in Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, UK and USA to share their memories of local popular music heritage. By privileging these voices, the project has the potential to develop and strengthen community cohesion and also raise questions of how these voices might be incorporated into the production and distribution practices of Australia's music industry. Our findings will feed into current debates about the importance of local histories in a national context and point to possible economic benefits through cultural tourism and leisure outlets, for example, community-based exhibitions and guided tours focusing on local popular music history and heritage.Read moreRead less