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Audiences for creative practice formats, from the arts to gaming have never been greater. Cities, cultural institutions and business are embracing new approaches and utilising the new insights and formats created through the increasing interaction of the Humanities with creative practices.
Many areas of cultural production, from design to animation to film, need to be reconsidered as a part of the inter-disciplinary approach of both the Humanities and creative practice. Humanities and creative practices both interrogate and activate histories and narratives, and generate new experiences and environments. In so doing, we create a richer, more diverse and speculative physical, mental and spiritual world.
Convened by Distinguished Professor Peter McNeil FAHA with the support of a diverse convening committee, the Symposium will foreground the diversity and vital role of creative practices, and connect with humanities perspectives on Australian social, cultural, and economic life.
Panel themes include:
- Design, performance and cultural resilience
- HASS-STEM conversations: Health, wellness and science meet creative design
- Technology, industry, and the humanities/creative and communication arts
- The new museology and viewing publics
- First Nations arts, design & performance
- Research, records, responsibilities
- Difficult art and cancel culture
- Art and humanities challenges and the future
The Symposium is delivered in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney.
Suited for academics, early career researchers, policy makers, arts workers, artists, designers, and industry professionals, this Symposium is a unique opportunity to connect with peers, forge new connections, and explore the ideas shaping Australia’s creative future.
Details
When
13 – 14 November 2025
Where
The University of Technology, Sydney
> Venue and accommodation details
Register
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Program
Download the Program at a glance (224 KB)
Grace Lillian Lee (Australia b1988)
Meriam Mer, Torres Strait region
Belonging 3 2021-22
from the series Belonging (detail)
cotton webbing, goose feathers, timber cane, cotton and wool thread
160 x 90 x 50 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, commissioned with funds provided by the Aboriginal Art Collection Benefactors 2021
©Grace Lillian Lee
©Art Gallery of New South Wales
119.2022.3
Program sessions
Speakers
Convenor
Distinguished Professor Peter McNeil FAHA
Distinguished Professor Peter McNeil FAHA works across fields and topics including art and design history, fashion studies, material culture and the decorative arts. He investigates English, French and Australian topics from the 18th century to the present day, often with a focus on overlooked aspects of visual culture such as interior and fashion design. He is descended from English, Irish, Scottish, Bavarian and Austrian convicts, an utopian socialist, a bushranger, an atheist, and free settlers. He lives and works on Gadigal, Dharug and Gundungurra country.
Peter is former and current Interim Section Head for ‘The Arts’; Past President, AAANZ, representing Art History in this region, and he is Co-Editor with Dr Valerie Steele of the leading journal in its field, Fashion Theory.
The Symposium is supported by a diverse convening committee:
- Professor Neal Peres Da Costa FAHA
- Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO FAHA
- Professor Susan Best FAHA
- Emeritus Professor Peta Tait FAHA
- Emeritus Professor Andrew McNamara FAHA
- Professor Brigitta Olubas FAHA
- Emeritus Professor Pam Peters FAHA
Sponsor
Principal Sponsor
The Academy acknowledges the generous sponsorship and support by the University of Technology Sydney for this year’s Symposium.
Associate Sponsors
The Academy acknowledges the generous sponsorship and support by the University of Sydney, UNSW, the Australian National University, The Australian Centre for Public History, UTS and the Australian Research Data Commons.
About the artwork
The artist documentation for this work states;
“These body sculptures give you the sense of the notion of a body - the body is no longer there - the bloodlines carry on. This series explores the complexities of identity and connection. This has been my life’s work, to connect and celebrate my linage. It has been a journey of exploring and understanding my connection, but also to create works which reflect this exploration on the body. I’m a descendant of the Doolah family: my grandmother is Marcella Lillian Lee (neé Berolah), daughter of Rasme Berolah (neé Seden), daughter of Minah Seden (neé Doolah). We are proud descendants of the Doolah family. We are Meriam-Samsep people, one of eight groups of the Meriam people of the eastern islands of the Torres Strait, also known as Mer/Murray Island. My grandmother and our family speak about what root we come from and the many branches within the tree. These sculptures look at the structural elements of how we are all interconnected and the beauty within these connections. The four white pieces either side the central red piece represent my community and my Ancestors. The centre piece represents me. Understanding that I can stand strong in knowing that I belong, and to be bold and powerful in who I am.
I celebrate my cultural identity through the act of weaving. Uncle Ken Thaiday has taught me these techniques to create and explore my identity. These are contemporary expressions of self. His wishes are for me to carry this on. These techniques are derived from ceremonial costumes, specifically the Dhari and the dance machines which he specialises in."
Grace Lillian Lee 2022
