National cultural conference visits UNAUSTRALIA

Kaddie Pass

1 December 2006: If things are 'un-Australian' it must be because they come from UNAUSTRALIA, according to Paul Magee, organiser of the upcoming national Cultural Studies Conference at the University.

The conference covers a wide range of topics from fashion to politics featuring seminars, discussion panels, workshops and more as delegates visit the 'imaginary country' of UNAUSTRALIA.

How Parliament House might look in UNAUSTRALIA Image: Geoff Hinchcliffe

Around 170 local and international presenters will deliver papers with renowned French philosopher Jacques Rancière, delivering a keynote address in the Great Hall of Parliament House on Thursday evening.

Dr Magee said securing Professor Rancière was a major coup for the University and the conference.

"Jacques Rancière is regarded as one of the major thinkers of the last 20 years," Dr Magee said.

'Reclaiming the space'

Dr Magee, who is president of the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia and creative communication lecturer at the University, said the annual conference provides a space to question the status quo and "gets people to think about what UNAUSTRALIA might be."

The artwork that sees a disco ball twirling above Parliament House is by University of Canberra graphic designer, Geoff Hinchcliffe.

And while people will have their own interpretation Dr Magee sees it as "about reclaiming the space".  

The conference will also feature keynote addresses at the Boiler House by prominent Australian social commentators, Larissa Behrendt, Catherine Lumby, and John Frow, while Klaus Neumann will deliver a public lecture in Garema Place.

Professor Behrendt, director of research at the UTS Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, will explore the implications of the 'Australian values' debate on the experience of Indigenous Australians.  

Political zeal

Associate Professor Lumby, former foundation chair of the University of Sydney Media and Communications Department, will discuss the term Un-Australian and the political zeal "to define Australians in terms of what we are not".

Professor Frow will close the conference with the 2006 Don Aitkin Public Lecture, with an introductory live sound art performance by the University's Vice-Chancellor.

The conference will also host a two-day workshop under the theme of "Fashion and Dress in UNAUSTRALIA" where academics, writers and fashion creators will converge to look at trends in fashion and dress in Australia; body-clothing relations; Australian fashion and dress in the global context; the politics of fashion and dress; and issues of design, production and consumption.

The CSAA annual conference will run from 6 to 8 December at the University and venues around Canberra.

For more information, visit the UNAUSTRALIA website