Culture and Local Arts

Flinders University is an active contributor to creative arts in many different ways and is actively involved in preserving cultural heritage.

Flinders University Museum Of Art

Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) is a custodian of one of the largest public art collections in South Australia. 

FUMA serves the University and wider community as an academic resource and dynamic site of cultural and intellectual exchange through its cross-disciplinary and collaborative projects, exhibitions, education and public programs.

For 2023, FUMA hosted 6 exhibitions, and 7 programs and conferences (one of which was related to an exhibition). Some of Flinders’ exhibitions travelled across multiple locations, e.g. Bee-stung Lips (Barbara Hanrahan works on papers) consisted of 5 regional exhibitions and workshops (in Port Lincoln, Murray Bridge, Port Pirie, Naracoorte and Riddoch) as well as at Flinders University.

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View Past Exhibitions

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Assemblage

Assemblage is Flinders University’s research centre for artistic enquiry and art creation

It is the meeting point of art and science, health, technology, engineering, industry and community. Amongst their many programs, they also organise or contribute to public events and exhibitions.

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Some contributions from 2023:

Australian Premier of 19 Weeks screening

Cargo screening with Adam Lowenstein

Electric Dreams conference

Jesse Budel’s Flinders Festival of Creative Arts

National Cultural policy Revive

Robyn Archer Oration

Bodies of Work symposium

Echoes of Midwinter with Sean Williams

Ghosts in the Machine screening

Lucid Dreaming film

Rituals of Memory (2023)

AusStage

AusStage provides an accessible online resource for researching live performance in Australia. AusStage records the significance of artistic collaborations and stimulates new approaches to collaborative research.

AusStage was welcomed to the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register in 2021 as a database of national cultural heritage and significance and continues to thrive with over half a million records contained within the database. Over the past 20+ years AusStage development has been led by a consortium of universities, government agencies, industry organisations and collecting institutions with funding from the Australian Research Council and other sources.

The project office and server installation are housed at Flinders University.

AusStage was involved in hosting two major events at Flinders University in 2023:

Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies Conference

This conference included multiple presentations and hosted sessions by Flinders University staff and students. This also included the award of the Flinders-AusStage Prize to Dr James Wenley for the Performing Data in Australasia Project.  The conference was hosted at Flinders University Bedford Park and Flinders University Victoria Square.

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The Clusters of Culture: Festivals, Mapping and Data Visualisation Symposium

This symposium brought national and international AusStage Researchers together in a face to face meeting (with online option) hosted at Flinders Victoria Square as part of the ARC LIEF 7 project (AusStage Phase 7: The International Breakthrough 2021-2023). The symposium also included a keynote presentation by international artistic director Oskar Eustis.

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Recording and preserving cultural heritage is an integral part of AusStage. As part of the AusStage Phase 7: The International Breakthrough 2021-2023 project the AusStage website was completely reconfigured with a new search engine, new ways to export data and additional information and items. Some of these relevant additions included AusStage Stories, Company of the Month and Book of the Month.

The AusStage Stories page includes examples of cultural significance such as the story on Ecological Theatre (national significance), AusStage Follows the Money (local significance) and Visualising Lost Theatres (in particular relating to the local cultural heritage of Adelaide’s Queen’s Theatre but also other theatres of international significance).

The Void

The Void is a multipurpose production stage housed in Flinders University’s acclaimed Drama Centre.

Incorporating motion capture and virtual production capability with Unreal Engine as unifying technology, The Void is a platform for creating screen experience of any kind. It hosts performances and is available for experimenting and creating productions for any visual artist

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Student and staff performances

Students and staff at Flinders University organise regular performances.

The Flinders Festival of Creative Arts is a two-week long celebration, showcasing the works from Flinders’s students, alumni and lecturers. In 2023 it consisted of 14 separate events, including the Virtual Production Showcase, the Visual Effects and Entertainment Design Showcase as well as multiple presentations, performances and screenings. These events are accessible for everyone.

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Graduating Actors Showcase 2023

The Flinders University Drama Centre Graduating Actors Showcase 2023, Be/ginning, performed in the Adelaide Festival Centre, covers 14 different performances from graduating actors

Yungkurrinthi Inparrila Cultural Gathering Space

The Yungkurrinthi Inparrila Cultural Gathering Space at Flinders University offers a space to host Welcome to Country, smoking ceremonies, events and gatherings, and learning and teaching activities.

It provides a place of wellbeing and healing, a place to grieve, and somewhere to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together. The integration of Kaurna place making within a contemporary context was only achievable through an inclusive, respectful and collaborative process with Kaurna Elders and other First Nation People. The location is freely accessible for students, staff and the wider community, who want to celebrate or connect with Kaurna culture and heritage.