ARTEFACTS PROJECT: Artists’ Talks and Reception

Contemporary artists respond to the collection of the ANU Classics Museum

Please join the Friends of the ANU Classics Museum for talks by the artists participating in the current ARTefacts Project exhibition, on display October 2024 – March 2025.

The ARTefacts Project engages contemporary artists and ANU postgraduates in the creation of new works that respond to the collection of the ANU Classics Museum. Co-curated by artist, educator and PhD candidate Julian Laffan and Friends’ Lecturer and Classics Museum Curator Dr Georgia Pike-Rowney, the project enables participating artists to animate, activate and interrogate the collection through the lens of contemporary art practice and scholarship.

The exhibition displays the contemporary works throughout and amongst the ancient collection of artefacts in the museum. The aim of the exhibition is to create a direct dialogue between ancient and modern works, sparking new questions and debates concerning material, meaning, value, and narrative.

3.30pm – arrive to enjoy the exhibition in the Classics Museum
4-4.30pm – artists’ talks in the Museum: after a short welcome and introduction by exhibition Co-Curators Dr Georgia Pike-Rowney and Julian Laffan, each or the five artists will give a 5-minute presentation on their work and their response to the Classics Museum
4.30-5.30pm – reception with drinks and light refreshments held in the museum

Participating artists in the ARTefacts Project have each been supported by a Friends of the Classics Museum Creative Bursary towards the new creative and written works.

Participating artists (in alphabetical order):

Aidan Hartshorn (MPhil Candidate, SoAD, ANU) considers the ongoing practices of Walgalu (Wolgalu, Wolgal) people that pre-date the ancient ideal of the Classical object, disrupting colonial narratives through traditional forms made with unexpected contemporary materials.

Julian Laffan (PhD Candidate, SoAD, ANU) considers the life of a tree in the form of a 1st – 2nd century CE Egyptian writing tablet, investigating the connectivity of wood as a material in the story of writing and memory.

Robert Nugent (PhD Candidate, UWS) interprets the 2004 theft from the museum of a bronze portrait head (turn of the 1st century BCE / CE), returning a presence of the artefact to its case in filmic form.

Susie Russell (PhD Candidate, CAHAT, ANU) explores gender and family with a written analysis of classically inspired vessels by Australian artist Wendy Wood.

Harriet Schwarzrock (PhD Candidate, SoAD, ANU) creates plasma-illuminated glass forms in response to an 8th century BCE bronze spiral brooch. This work is created to move beyond the boundaries of the glass case, encouraging visitors to touch the pulsing glass forms.

Event Details:

Time and Date: Saturday 2nd November 2024, 3:30 – 5:30pm (artists’ talks beginning at 4:00pm).

Venue: ANU Classics Museum, Ground Floor, AD Hope Building, Australian National University, 14 Ellery Crescent, Acton.

Cost: FREE – but donations towards the museum’s activities are always welcome!

Registration: Please register by completing the Humanitix registration form by Wednesday 30th October.

Banner image: detail from modern work by glass artist Harriet Schwarzrock (left), in response to an 8th century BCE bronze spiral brooch (right) from the ANU Classics Museum collection (1980.12).