The Stony Rises Project

RESEARCH BACKGROUND This innovative interdisciplinary project brought together a team of artists, designers, historians, curators, theorists and scientists to investigate individual perspectives and practices in a particular region within the Western District of Victoria, Australia. Between 2008 and 2010 researchers adopted an exploratory and critical methodological approach to commenting, reflecting and remembering what it is that makes a place, a place. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION Project results included a travelling exhibition and a publication. From initial field research of the dry stone walls of the region, artists investigated the history of migration to Australia against the backdrop of Indigenous ownership and volcanic activity to temporally frame an understanding of what it is that makes a place and how it is remembered. Focusing on different histories revealed the complexity of the relationships between people and place when colonial and indigenous narratives are intertwined. The innovative mix of approaches to integrating art, design, science and humanities led to a number of international academic presentations and publications regarding the methodology and subsequent material practice outcomes of the project. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE The exhibition received funding from NETS and Arts Victoria and was shown the RMIT Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Horsham Art Gallery, Warrnambool Art Gallery, and Riddoch Art Gallery. There were substantial visitor numbers and media reviews. An accompanying publication, 'Designing Place: An Archaeology of the Western District' has been the highest selling publication in the RMIT gallery and continues to be in high demand in bookstores.