Australian Forums Curating DifferenceCasula Powerhouse's opening exhibition Australian is complemented by the Australian Forum, an exciting opportunity to engage in critical discussions around cultural diversity.Held over three Saturdays in May, July and August, you can select to come for one, two or three days. Drinks and appetisers will be served after each forum with the opportunity to personally meet the speakers. This forum is ideal for any Australian interested in cultural diversity and art. Suitable for members of the community, cultural professionals, curators, artists, writers, academics, students and community cultural development practitioners. MAY Day 1 When: Saturday 24 May, 2-5pm Where: Casula Powerhouse Cost: Adults $20, Concessions $10, Free for Casula Powerhouse Friends Speakers Prof. Andrew Jakubowicz, University of Technology Sydney, Assoc. Prof. Nikos Papastergiadis, University of Melbourne, Dr. Paula Abood Wog Zombie: The De-Humanization of Migrants, from Mad Dogs to Cyborgs Assoc. Prof. Nikos Papastergiadis Papastergiadis reconsiders the interplay between the fears associated with migrants and the experience of migration. He traces the change from the traditional image of the migrant as a desperate, displaced and dirty peasant in search of factory work to the contemporary image of the suicide bomber who slips quietly into society without displaying any sign of the harm he or she is about to unleash. Australia: cultures in friction Prof. Andrew Jakubowicz Cultural diversity feeds Australian society with new creativity and transformative interactions. This talk will explore the notion that cultural friction produces heat, shining new light onto the future, marking out pathways that beg us to explore them. Now that Australia has decided to move into a more dynamic and open government, Jakubowicz suggests that we can systematically reflect on how we can mobilise our diversity for an exciting and edgy future- instead of being confined to ideas of multicultural democracy from neo colonial or social democratic perspectives. Identity Manoeuvres in a Time of Crisis Dr. Paula Abood A decade after the Gulf War, we have come full circle with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and ongoing occupation up until today. Additionally, the relentless racialisation of rape, riot and bombing in the Australian media have inflected how Arab Australians negotiate their so-called difference. Abood unpacks the complexities of Arab diasporic identities and how they get played out in a time of crisis. JUNE Day 2 When: Saturday 5 July, 2-5pm Where: Casula Powerhouse Cost: Adults $20, Concessions $10, Free for Casula Powerhouse Friends Speakers Prof. Ien Ang, University of Western Sydney, Dr. Juan Salazar, University of Western Sydney, Nicholas Tsoutas, Artistic Director, Casula Powerhosue COMPLEX Prof. Ien Ang When we say that contemporary Australia is ‘complex’, we highlight the contradictions and tensions that are intrinsic to ‘Australianness’ in the 21st century. ‘Complex’ is a condensation of multiply entangled experiences, subjectivities, habits, practices, flows and encounters. Rather than hiding behind the apparent simplicity of ‘complex’ and running away from its inconvenient truth, this paper will confront its cognitive and affective meanings head on. Tactics of Elusion in recent Australian Cinema Dr. Juan Francisco Salazar In the last decades, Australian cinema has positioned itself as a multicultural enterprise zone encouraged by government financial incentives. How can we imagine a future for Australian cinema that moves beyond a multicultural image of society- and the narrative between white Australian and its “other”? Juan Francisco considers how Australian cinema could position itself as cross-cultural or trans-cultural, rather than a multicultural cinematic project? Australian Exhibition Nicholas Tsoutas AUSTRALIAN is a site of intersection where different cultures engage, connect, collide and exchange ideas, challenging each other across and through their differences. AUSTRALIAN is about where and how people live together and engage with each other. Hear Nicholas discuss how Australian envisions a democracy of ideas in Casula’s opening exhibition- positively giving voice to the dialogue between cultures and celebrating “difference”. AUGUST Day 3 When: Saturday 16 August, 1-6pm Where: Casula Powerhouse Cost: Adults $20, Concessions $10, Free for Casula Powerhouse Friends Day three brings together a group of dynamic young curators and cultural professionals to look at how people respond to difference in contemporary Australia and its exploration through art. Speakers Reuben Keehan, Cecelia Cmielewski, Aaron Seeto, Lisa Havilah, Matthew Poll, Tania Doropoulos, Lena Nahlous, Dr Thomas Berghuis, Anna Bazzi Backhouse & Vasili Kaliman. |
WHERE & WHEN:
Day 3 |
