East Perth Power Station and the Electrification of Western Australia: Interpretation of an Historic Site. Over the past century electricity has transformed people's lives. This project investigates the history of electrification in Australia through an interpretation of the historic site of East Perth power station, Australia's first centralised power station and now WA's most significant redevelopment site. The interconnection of electricity's technologies with human lives is the focus of this ....East Perth Power Station and the Electrification of Western Australia: Interpretation of an Historic Site. Over the past century electricity has transformed people's lives. This project investigates the history of electrification in Australia through an interpretation of the historic site of East Perth power station, Australia's first centralised power station and now WA's most significant redevelopment site. The interconnection of electricity's technologies with human lives is the focus of this research. It will result in scholarly outputs in print and digital form and provide thematic and narrative materials for best-practice historic heritage interpretation. The research is supported by industry partners including stakeholders in the East Perth power station site, community and government organisations, and researchers from four universities.Read moreRead less
Studies of the degradation of dyes and pigments in inks on paper, in photographic media, and on painted surfaces. The National collecting institutions (the National Archives of Australia, the National Museum of Australia,Screen Sound Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial) have collections important to our national heritage on paper, photographic film and other media which they are required by law to preserve for future generations of Australians. Surveys ....Studies of the degradation of dyes and pigments in inks on paper, in photographic media, and on painted surfaces. The National collecting institutions (the National Archives of Australia, the National Museum of Australia,Screen Sound Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the Australian War Memorial) have collections important to our national heritage on paper, photographic film and other media which they are required by law to preserve for future generations of Australians. Surveys of their collections have shown that a significant proportion of their most important collections is in need of conservation. This project aims at determining ways of conserving these valuable artefacts, and developing strategies for their display and storage.Read moreRead less
Aliens and Others: Representing citizenship and internments in Australia during WW2. This project will consider an episode in Australia's wartime history, the classification and internment of aliens in Australia during WW2, and analyse its different representations in historical discourse and personal and collective memory. In partnership with the National Museum of Australia and the National Archives of Australia, an on-line interactive exhibition and an archive incorporating written, spoken an ....Aliens and Others: Representing citizenship and internments in Australia during WW2. This project will consider an episode in Australia's wartime history, the classification and internment of aliens in Australia during WW2, and analyse its different representations in historical discourse and personal and collective memory. In partnership with the National Museum of Australia and the National Archives of Australia, an on-line interactive exhibition and an archive incorporating written, spoken and visual memory will be developed, a public conference presented and scholarly articles written. These outcomes will be a dynamic multi-layered analysis of the changing interactions between history, personal and social memory.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
A Great and Crying Need: A History of Kew Residential Services, 1887-2007, through Innovative Textual, Oral, Aural and Experiential Media. This original history of Kew Residential Services (KRS), formerly known as Kew Cottages, will trace the lives of its residents from 1887, analysing the changing discourses, policies and practices for people with intellectual disability. It will analyse the history of Kew Residential Services in terms of a modern society's shifting response to difference. Th ....A Great and Crying Need: A History of Kew Residential Services, 1887-2007, through Innovative Textual, Oral, Aural and Experiential Media. This original history of Kew Residential Services (KRS), formerly known as Kew Cottages, will trace the lives of its residents from 1887, analysing the changing discourses, policies and practices for people with intellectual disability. It will analyse the history of Kew Residential Services in terms of a modern society's shifting response to difference. The Project is internationally innovative, researching with and for people with intellectual disability and giving voice to their experiences. It will produce an academic monograph and scholarly articles, a unique non-verbal representation of residents' experiences, an oral history, radio documentary and photographic research.Read moreRead less
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
Childhood, Tradition and Change: a national study of the historical and contemporary practices and significance of Australian children's playlore. Through extending knowledge of children's playlore in the daily lives and social frameworks of Australians from the 1950s to the present, this project will contribute to broader public and policy discussions concerning educational, recreational and public health outcomes for children. It will enhance understanding of past and contemporary children's p ....Childhood, Tradition and Change: a national study of the historical and contemporary practices and significance of Australian children's playlore. Through extending knowledge of children's playlore in the daily lives and social frameworks of Australians from the 1950s to the present, this project will contribute to broader public and policy discussions concerning educational, recreational and public health outcomes for children. It will enhance understanding of past and contemporary children's play practices and the external influences shaping these, and assist UNESCO and the Australian government in defining intangible cultural heritage. Through partnerships with the National Library of Australia and Museum Victoria, the project will disseminate its findings to the community through publications, conferences and public exhibitions.Read moreRead less
The Social Sciences and the Making of Postwar Australia. This project explores the foundational significance of the social sciences in the creation of modern Australia. Using the history of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia as a focus, it will provide the first broad historical analysis of the various social scientific fields in Australia since WWII. In doing so it will highlight the previously under-examined but critical influence these fields of knowledge exerted over civil socie ....The Social Sciences and the Making of Postwar Australia. This project explores the foundational significance of the social sciences in the creation of modern Australia. Using the history of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia as a focus, it will provide the first broad historical analysis of the various social scientific fields in Australia since WWII. In doing so it will highlight the previously under-examined but critical influence these fields of knowledge exerted over civil society and public policy. Its finding will be of great significance both to our industry partner, in fulfilling its role as advocate for the social sciences, and to an understanding of the development of post-war Australian society.Read moreRead less
Australian Indigenous Collectors and Collections. 'Indigenous Collectors and Collections' considers Indigenous people's contemporary roles in shaping private and public collections, and the influence of historical circumstances and ideas of communal ownership and responsibility. It therefore subverts the dominant emphasis upon Europeans as collectors and appropriators of indigenous objects. By considering Indigenous people as collectors, curators and presenters of beloved objects, this project w ....Australian Indigenous Collectors and Collections. 'Indigenous Collectors and Collections' considers Indigenous people's contemporary roles in shaping private and public collections, and the influence of historical circumstances and ideas of communal ownership and responsibility. It therefore subverts the dominant emphasis upon Europeans as collectors and appropriators of indigenous objects. By considering Indigenous people as collectors, curators and presenters of beloved objects, this project will offer major new perspectives on Australian Indigenous history and museology. By exploring the power of material objects in cultural identity and historical consciousness, this project disrupts the stereotype of Indigenous people as purely 'museum victims'.Read moreRead less
Determining the age and origins of Indonesian and Indian trade textiles: multidisciplinary research in art history and conservation science. The National Gallery of Australia holds a world-renowned collection of Asian textiles and Australian art historians, conservators and curators are international leaders in the field of research, conservation and exhibition of Asian textiles. On this project they join forces to advance international understanding of the antiquity and identity of historical ....Determining the age and origins of Indonesian and Indian trade textiles: multidisciplinary research in art history and conservation science. The National Gallery of Australia holds a world-renowned collection of Asian textiles and Australian art historians, conservators and curators are international leaders in the field of research, conservation and exhibition of Asian textiles. On this project they join forces to advance international understanding of the antiquity and identity of historical production centres in India and Indonesia through selected carbon dating and physical analysis of key textile types from museum collections and the field. The results will assist in the reliable, inexpensive and non-intrusive guidelines for other collecting institutions to assess the age and origins of textiles in their care.Read moreRead less