What’s happening

Social justice movements are intertwined with art exhibitions at the John Curtin Gallery.

Art throws the world’s injustices into sharp relief – educating, provoking and effecting change. We explore eight artists whose activism is integral to their artistic practice. Meet just a few of them below:

🌱 Displacement. Environmental damage. Climate change.
These are the themes that underpin West Australian artist Monique Tippett’s work, 'Karrakin', which depicts the red-tailed black cockatoos in flight in an increasingly degraded habitat.

🌿 Singaporean-based artist Madhvi Subrahmanian pays homage to women of rural India in her work, 'Upla' - their daily work is simple but critical to the effective running of homes and families. Every day, they make upla (cow dung pats), an essential fuel for cooking and to provide warmth.

🏵️ Athi-Patra Ruga critiques the political and social climate of post-apartheid South Africa through his art. He creates myths and alternative realities to view historical trauma.

🏜️ Judith Yinyika Chambers and Nancy Nyanyana Jackson are Ngaanyatjarra women who live in the remote community of Warakurna in Western Australia. Their work tells the story of a little-known massacre involving their relatives, which happened at Tutjurangara (Circus Water) prior to 1935.

Read the full article via the Curtin Commons link in our bio.

📷 L-R: Monique Tippett for IOTA21; Madhivi Subrahmaniam, ‘Upla (Cow Dung)’, 2021, installation view, JCG, 2021; Athi-Patra Ruga; Nancy Jackson and Judith Yinyika Chambers, ‘Tutjurangara Massacre (Circus Waters Rockhole Massacre)’ 2018, installation view, JCG, 2021.

#CurtinCommons #art #activism #socialjustice #johncurtingallery ...

Have you heard the incredible story of WWII nurse Doreen Fyfe?

Doreen was born in Albany, WA in 1919 and moved to a farm near Margaret River when she was very young. Due to the circumstances of the time and living in such an isolated area, Doreen only attended primary school between the ages of 8 and 12. She was unable to go to high school, which typically would have meant her dream of becoming a nurse would be cut short...

However, during WWII she volunteered to train with the Nursing Division and her dream finally became a reality. Doreen always believed education was key to life success and never wanted another student to miss out on pivotal learning opportunities; she made sure her own three daughters all received the education she missed out on as a child.

Now, Doreen's daughters are continuing their mother's legacy and have created a scholarship in her name to support others from rural backgrounds to study nursing at Curtin.

Chloe Remaj is a recipient of this scholarship. Chloe also had to make the move from Albany to Perth to pursue her career ambitions. Read her letter to the Fyfe sisters below.

Find out more about supporting Curtin by clicking on the link in our bio.

📷 Left to right: Doreen Fyfe Scholarship recipients and nursing students Tricia Reyes and Chloe Remaj, with donors Adjuct Associate Professors Georgina Fyfe and Sue Fyfe; Doreen Fyfe as a nurse during WWII and then in her later years.

#CurtinCommons #CurtinGives #nurse #nursing #history #WWIInurse #education #scholarship ...

Four Curtin mechatronic engineering students have graduated from Lab61's Engineering School!

Lab61 provides our students and graduates with practical, industry-based learning opportunities, particularly in robotics and automation.

Congrats to Hjalmar Dressel, Damian Hancock, Brian Hornsby and Callum Giglia-Smith on your achievements!

📷 Left to right: Lab61 graduates, Brian Hornsby speaking and at his desk, and Callum Giglia-Smith working on a robot.

#CurtinGrad #engineering #mechatronicengineering ...

Curtin grad Bec Bignell (BA Journalism and Performance Studies, 2007) grew up on a farm in regional WA before moving to the eastern states to work in the big smoke as a producer, writer and filmmaker. She has now worked in film and television for over a decade.

Her most recent success was shooting a new web series, 'Homespun', which showcases and celebrates regional Australia – and challenges country stereotypes.

In her own words, Bec shares with us why this show is so close to her heart and the impact it could have. Read the full essay in Curtin Commons via the link in our bio. ...

Congratulations to #CurtinGrad and film director Roderick Mackay on being nominated FIVE times by the AACTA Awards 2021 for his debut feature 'The Furnace'! He has personally been nominated Best Director, but the film is also in the running to win:

🎥 Best Film, Best Actor (Ahmed Malek), Best Supporting Actor (Baykali Ganambarr), and Best Original Screenplay.

"In 2014 while researching a different project, I stumbled upon what seemed like the most unlikely of images – Afghan, Indian and Persian men wearing traditional garb, standing alongside a train of camels, but in the familiar Western Australian outback," says Roderick. "Having lived in Australia my entire life, I was stunned to learn that these Islamic, Sikh and Hindu men had come to Australia from as early as the 1860s as cameleers. For me, it was like a painter discovering more colours to depict the otherwise tired colonial outback setting.

"I hope this film enacts a more inclusive Australian identity, so all migrant communities can walk a little taller as Australians, because other than Aboriginal people – the traditional custodians of the land – we’re all migrants or the sons and daughters of migrants.

"Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum and Australia is a country that, to my mind, has only recently begun to willingly peer back into its past - warts and all - to better understand how it has arrived at the present."

Congratulations Roderick for showing what our humble WA filmmakers can achieve! We'll be cheering you on when winners are announced in January next year.

@aacta #CurtinGrad #film #director #wafilm #aacta #aacta2021 #thefurnacefilm #history ...

Goodbye Building 201, hello Building 418! 🏫

We had an incredible, nostalgic celebration last month with our graduates and friends at the opening of the new home for Design & Built Environment - Building 418 - while farewelling the beloved maze-like halls of Building 201, which was constructed in the late 1960s.

Guests enjoyed walking through campus together to the new Building 418 in the Exchange precinct (set to open next year), before returning to Building 201 for networking, entertainment and an opportunity to leave their mark on our walls. Thank you to everyone who came!

📷 'Goodbye Building 201' event photography by Reuben Black Media.

#CurtinLife #CurtinUniversity #design #builtenvironment #architecture #nostalgia #history ...

When neurodiverse artist Simon Phillips turned four years old, he was given a 35mm camera for his birthday. And so began his love affair with venturing outdoors to listen to the landscapes that surrounded him and capture them on film.

Meanwhile in Singapore, multidisciplinary artist Dawn-joy Leong, also neurodiverse, was following her passions in both science and the arts.

Almost three decades later, the two artists are collaborating on 'Sense and Sensitivity', a unique exhibition which opens tomorrow at the John Curtin Gallery. @simonphillipsphoto's detailed landscape photography and @dawnjoyleong's evocative soundscapes collide in a multisensory adventure that reflects their experiences of the world.

“When I get to a location, I spend a good hour or more walking around the place to get a feel for how the landscape speaks to me through the way the wind is," says Simon. "The way the terrain is, the sounds, colours, textures, smells. I think of the landscape as a living identity."

Dawn-joy's work is also influenced by how she connects via her senses with the material universe.

“I am inspired by small details, minutiae, snippets of sound, words, images, movement, and the science behind sensory acuity as it exists in the autistic embodiment. Lucy Like-a-Charm, my closest companion, muse and (now-retired) autism sensory assistance dog, has also been a wellspring of inspiration to me. I’ve learned so much from observing how she experiences the world and how she communicates wordlessly with me and the elements,” she says.

Head to @johncurtingallery to find out more about this unmissable exhibition.

📷 Left: Dawn-joy Leong with her service dog Lucy Like-a-Charm. Right: Simon Phillips with his camera.

#johncurtingallery #art #photography #artists #soundscape #neurodiversity #exhibition #perthart ...

Two Curtin students will soon step onto the international stage to fight for gender equality and environmental care after being awarded Global Voices scholarships.

Economics student Alexander Jayasuria is currently representing Australia on climate policy at the COP26 summit in Scotland, while Law student Elise Christou is participating in the UN Commission on the Status of Women delegation next March.

Both Alexander and Elise will develop policy papers with key recommendations for Australian public policy, while liaising with government officials, senior academics and experts.

"Urgency is key at COP26," says Alexander, "and this will likely be the conference that makes meaningful progress on the key climate-related financial and economic issues which are the focus of my research."

Meanwhile, Elise is looking forward to "seizing this opportunity to participate in an international forum representing youth voices, particularly on the matter of women’s mental health, which is a subject I am passionate about."

Congrats to our incredible students on this enormous achievement!

#CurtinGrad #students #climatepolicy #COP26 #environment #unitednations #genderequality #globalvoicesscholarship #scholarships ...