This summer, as the State Library celebrates its new permanent exhibition of paintings — many from the early days of the colony — the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra is rejigging its own ‘early Australian’ rooms. Its Robert Oatley Gallery usually presents the faces of our so-called Founding Fathers, with James Cook taking centre stage … Continue reading Three Portraits in the State Library of NSW
A little booster I wrote for our exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery last summer (only now online). Includes cartoon image of me at end as well! "The National Portrait Gallery rehangs its permanent galleries at least twice a year. This summer, the Robert Oatley gallery, which typically displays the ‘earliest works from the NPG … Continue reading Rethinking Foundational Histories
A Lecture for the Kaldor Art Project 2018: Anri Sala I just noticed that a mini-lecture I did for this fabulous Art Group is up on vimeo. We were all given a brief to help explicate the art work for that year, Anri Sala's intriguing meditation on the so-called clash of Enlightenment (represented in Mozart's … Continue reading Colonialism and the Age of Enlightenment
I had a lot of fun doing this podcast with my friend Peter Moore. He came up with the idea for this series for the well-known British magazine, History Today. I was thrilled to be the third cab off the ranks after guests such as Michael Palin; apparently Simon Schaffer is up next. Peter's idea was … Continue reading Travels Through Time: 1776
Over on my other website, you'll find updates on this collaborative project with the National Portrait Gallery. Currently on show is the first exhibition from our endeavours: Facing New Worlds in the Robert Oatley Gallery. Get along to see it before April 2019! (Click this post heading to get hyperlinks.)
Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds. By Alison Jones and Kuni Kaa Jenkins. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2017. Pp. 288. NZD$45.00 paper. This lushly-presented, award-winning book is a biography of a commonly cited but little researched early Māori globetrotter. Tuai was a Ngare Raumati chief from what Europeans named the Bay of Islands. Born around … Continue reading Review of Tuai
I was pleased to contribute to this collective response to the ministerial intervention into 2018's Australian Research Council grants. My bit below; published in the November issue of the Australian Book Review: "In the ongoing furore around revelations of ministerial research grant vetoes, two things are in danger of slipping from view. One is that … Continue reading Discrimination and Gaslighting in the 2018 ARC Controversy
Just over a year ago I launched my personal website with a brief commentary on two media pieces that struck me as especially important and succinct. They focussed on the value of the humanities and other neglected forms of labour in our increasingly automated age. With it, I solidified one friendship and made another, and … Continue reading The Humanities and 20 Years of Australian Political Culture
My covid year was relatively fine, but it still played havoc on my reading, considering how many hours I had to give up to doomscrolling and rocking quietly in a corner. So my overall list for the year was way down. Here though are my favoured five non-work reads for 2020. Putting them together, I … Continue reading Yearly Faves
Yesterday I found these notes in my inboxes: Hiya Kate - I'm doing a story about the friendship between arthur phillip and bennelong for tomorrow's paper..I'd love to get your input...Chris Hook, Journalist, Daily Telegraph. And: hello there ...I'm a daily tele journalist doing a story for tomorrow about Australia Day and the friendship between … Continue reading “History Lesson”
