Culture and Creativity Seminar Series

Kerry Martin – A Mouth Full of Tears: Employing a Reparative Aesthetic in the Art of Inquiry

Abstract  Analysing the feedback from the speaker’s major PhD exhibition, and looking at three recent Royal Commissions, this presentation focuses on key themes emerging from these large truth-telling/witnessing exercises. It explores ongoing research into art making centred on issues of social injustice examined in commissions of inquiry, and asks whether art, using a specific aesthetic approach can be an effective entry point into the issues being examined and an ongoing platform for action or conversation.  Bio  Kerry is a visual artist and researcher, and this year’s recipient of the Donald Horne Creative and Cultural Fellowship at the University of Canberra’s Centre for Creative and Cultural Research. Her research explores how art can act as a platform or catalyst for the continuation of conversations about some of our country’s most shameful social histories.  Acknowledgements  This research is funded by the CCCR Donald Horne Research Fellowship and the PhD was funded by RTP Stipend.  This presentation was accompanied by slides. To view the slides head to KerryMartin_Presentation.pptx

Wendy Somerville – Kind Regards: Three Years On

Abstract  This presentation is a conversation about a research collaboration between academics from three universities. What started as a collaboration between three women from Edith Cowan University and four from Canberra University has grown to include another woman from both universities and one more from the University of Wollongong. We call ourselves the Kind Regards Collective.  Bio  Wendy is a Jerrinja woman from the South Coast of NSW. She is the inaugural First Nations Post-Doctoral Researcher with the CCCR.  This presentation was accompanied by slides. To view the slides head to WendySomerville_Presentation.pptx

Julia Brand – Laser Cleaning at the Victoria and Albert Museum: Summary of a one-year Fellowship

Abstract  Laser cleaning provides a highly controlled, non-invasive method for removing surface contaminants without damaging the underlying material, making it especially valuable in the preservation of sensitive cultural artifacts. Over the past year, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s conservation team has applied this approach across various materials and object types, such as plastics, micromosaics, ceramics, and paintings. This seminar will offer an overview of how laser cleaning works, its advantages, and the results obtained during the projects undertaken in 2024. It will also share practical insights, highlight challenges and benefits, and demonstrate the growing role of laser technology in the preservation of cultural heritage.  Bio  Julia is a postdoctoral research fellow specialising in the application of laser technologies for the conservation of cultural heritage materials. She completed her PhD at University of Canberra in 2023, focusing on the use of femtosecond pulse lasers to clean the granite cladding of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Following her doctoral studies, she undertook a laser cleaning fellowship at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where she worked closely with conservators to integrate laser cleaning into routine treatment practices. Julia has since returned to Canberra, where her research will explore the application of laser cleaning to Aboriginal rock art.  Acknowledgements  This fellowship was funded by Ed and Anne Teppo.  This presentation was accompanied by slides. To view the slides head to JuliaBrand_Presentation.pptx

Manuela de Barros – The Art of Links: How Technology Transforms Our Magical World

Abstract  In this lecture, Manuela de Barros explores how technology has interfaced with the concept of magic since the Renaissance, influencing how beliefs and expectations about their capabilities are formed. She considers how these cultural beliefs endow technologies with magical powers to take care of social problems, inviting us to reflect on their significance in the context of expanding space exploration.  Bio  Manuela de Barros is Assistant Professor in philosophy, aesthetics and theory of arts at Université Paris 8 Vincennes - Saint-Denis. Her research concerns the aesthetics of contemporary art and new media ; relationships between arts, sciences and technologies; the biological, anthropological and environmental modifications brought by technosciences; the passages between sciences and fictional constructions (in art or in literature); feminism and gender. She is the author of several publications including Magie et technologie (UV éditions).  This presentation was accompanied by slides. To view the slides head to ManueladeBarros_Presentation.pptx

Owen Bullock – Gendai Haiku as a Progressive Force: What I learnt in Japan on the Outside Studies Program

Abstract  In the first half of 2025, I was fortunate enough to conduct research on the Outside Studies Program towards completion of an academic textbook, How to Write Haiku, to be published by Bloomsbury Press. This included a month spent in Japan conducting background cultural research and, more specifically, interviewing and talking with contemporary poets and critics about Gendai Haiku. Gendai literally means ‘new style’ and arose with the New Rising Poets movement of the late 1930s, a group that was suppressed by the government in what became known as the Haiku Persecution Incident. Gendai leans towards surrealism, and, I argue, constitutes a significant form of postmodernism which has the potential to inform and re-invigorate English-Language Haiku.  Bio  Owen Bullock’s most recent poetry collection is Pancakes for Neptune (Recent Work Press, 2023), following three previous poetry titles, five books of haiku, a bilingual edition of tanka, and a novella. His research interests include arts and health; haikai literature; poetry and process; semiotics and poetry; prose poetry, and collaboration. His scholarly work has appeared in Antipodes, Journal of Creative Arts Therapies, Axon, Journal of New Zealand Literature, Ka Mate Ka Ora, Medical Humanities, New Writing, Qualitative Inquiry, Social Alternatives, TEXT and Westerly. He is Discipline Lead for Creative Writing and Literary Studies at the University of Canberra.  This presentation was accompanied by slides. To view the slides head to OwenBullock_Presentation.pptx