Creative Flourishing

Museums and Inclusivity

Museums are archives which preserve objects that define historical and cultural events. We visit museum exhibitions to learn about the world's present and past and to come face-to-face with artefacts that played a role in history. But what happens when these artefacts only tell part of a story, or give one demographic's perspective? How do we fill these gaps in the archive, to make museums inclusive spaces where all demographics can see themselves reflected?   This episode dives into a reverse collecting project which originated from a gap in Queensland Museum's collection relating to maternity and motherhood. Join Queensland Museum Senior Curator Liz Bissell, UQ's Director of Museum Studies Caroline Wilson-Barnao, and expert on museum experiences outside of traditional museum environments Lisa Enright to learn more about how they are changing this narrative by sourcing more representative objects and stories. We also hear from Margaret Henderson, an expert on women's and feminist writing, who talks about her efforts to bring together a collection of second-wave feminist objects for the National Museum. This episode is hosted by Emma Cole, and edited and mastered by Anthony Frangi. Matt Bapty is the Creative Flourishing research assistant.

Medea in Exile

During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, Australian audiences encountered Greek tragedy in mainstage theatres in domesticated adaptations more than in any other format. Medea was a popular source text, whether in Wesley Enoch's adaptation, which collides Euripides' and Seneca's material with a narrative about intergenerational cycles of violence in Indigenous Australian communities, or Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks' pressure cooker of a play, where audiences watch the last hour of Medea's children's lives play out in real time. This episode explores a new Australian adaptation of Medea which explodes the myth out in the opposite direction, towards the epic rather than the domestic. Co-created by Australian playwright Tom Holloway and classicist Emma Cole, Medea in Exile is a trilogy of plays about Medea, built from lost and forgotten narratives from antiquity preserved in tragic fragments, quotations from ancient mythographers, and material evidence. Join us as we journey through the history of Australian adaptations of Greek tragedy in the twenty-first century, where we touch upon Tom's prior works Don't Say The Words (from Aeschylus' Agamemnon) and Love Me Tender (from Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis), and consider the enduring appeal of using theatre to explore grief and to purge or cleanse us of our emotions.   This episode is produced in partnership with the Assemblage Centre for Creative Practice Research at Flinders University and is guest hosted by Professor Chris Hay, Director of Assemblage.

Sounding Symmetries

Symmetry is all around us. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, from the legend of Pythagoras through to Galileo and Descartes, it has been theorised through science and embodied through music. But how are the creative arts responding to symmetry today? Can the concept help communities to flourish, enriching them through the arts whilst educating them about maths? In this episode mathematician Artem Pulemotov and musicologist Denis Collins join host Emma Cole to discuss how the concept of symmetry can bridge the divide between arts and science. We explore Artem and Denis' unique partnership and how it has led to the commission of two new compositions, by Nicole Murphy and Robert Davidson, which seek to render the transformations behind multidimensional symmetry systems sonically. Join us to hear excerpts from both compositions, performed by acclaimed ensemble Topology, and to consider the public engagement benefits behind rendering mathematics through music.  This episode features performances from Christa Powell (violin), John Babbage (soprano saxophone), Robert Davidson (bass guitar), and Therese Milanovic (piano). Geoff McGahan is the recording engineer for the musical excerpts from Typology, and Anthony Frangi edited and mastered the overall episode. Matt Bapty is the Creative Flourishing research assistant.

Creative Writing and Apocalyptic Futures

How do we live in an age of uncertain futures? Can we reconcile the different strategies people deploy to future-proof their lives, from the billionaires building bunkers through to prepper subcultures and sovereign citizens? And might the creative arts, if not answer these questions, provide a way into thinking through these questions, to help us live with our anxiety about humanity's future?   In this episode creative non-fiction author Tom Doig and playwright Oliver Gough join hosts Matthew Bapty and Emma Cole to discuss how creative writing intersects with the theme of apocalyptic futures. Tom shares insights into the work he is doing for his next book, We Are All Preppers Now, playing field recordings for listeners from prepper communities and humanising the individuals behind the headlines. Meanwhile, Oliver explores the particular valency of playwriting as a form of creative writing for thinking through the climate crisis. We end the episode with a reading of Oliver's monologue I am the Oil. Lend us your ears as we explore how creative writing for the page and the stage can help us grapple with unknown and even apocalyptic futures.

Creation and Curation: Archie Moore's kith and kin

Archie Moore's kith and kin took the 2024 Venice Biennale by storm, winning Australia its very first Golden Lion for best national participation. The exhibition, curated by Ellie Buttrose, involved Moore turning the Australia Pavilion into an immersive genealogical history, with his chalk-drawn family tree covering the walls and ceiling of the venue and documenting 65,000 years of First Nations history. Contrasting against the personal documentation was a political one; in the centre of the Pavilion, atop tables stood in a pool of dark water, lay coroner reports from 1991-2023 dating between the release of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and when the artist produced the work.  In this episode art historian Andrea Bubenik joins theatre historian, dramaturg, and translator Emma Cole to discuss this monumental artwork, to coincide with the exhibition's opening at QAGOMA. Andrea takes listeners to Venice, where we hear UQ students' first impressions upon emerging from the Pavilion, and interviews Buttrose about her collaboration with Moore and the process behind curating kith and kin. Dive into this exploration of curation and creation as artistic practice, and come with us as we consider the flourishing dimension to artworks that encourage contemplation and empathy to help us live generously.