Reflection and Respite: The Big Anxiety Festival Exhibition at Fisher Library

Detail from Reflection and Respite by Ross Richardson

One of the simplest and most immediately accessible ways to lift your mood is a walk in the countryside or along the beach. Can spending time in front of a piece of art have a similar effect?

Influenced by recent research work on biophilia and ecopsychology, artists Emma and Ross propose that observing, drawing and even colouring in natural forms can help to reduce blood pressure, improve immune responses, and help alleviate anxiety. Art and nature in this sense combine to provide an antidote, and looking at images of nature can enhance a calm meditation. The concepts of mandalas, symmetry and balance are explored in the context of compositions which promote reflection and respite from the busyness of everyday life. 

Reflection and Respite exhibition, Fisher Library by Dr Emma Robertson and Ross Richardson

This exhibition in glass vitrines is on three levels of the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney, and the installation is also inspired by the setting of the Library, and the conventions of scientific illustration. Quotations from books relating to anxiety are integrated into the displays.

Supported by Scientia Education Fellowship, UNSW and The Fisher Library, The University of Sydney.

Detail from Reflection and Respite exhibition, Fisher Library by Dr Emma Robertson and Ross Richardson

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Reflection and Respite is part of the Big Anxiety Fesitival, Australia’s largest mental health festival.

The Big Anxiety brings together artists, scientists and communities to question and re-imagine the state of mental health in the 21st century.

A radically new kind of international arts festival, in which every project is an open conversation, designed to promote curiosity, awareness and action, The Big Anxiety presents events across Sydney, tackling the major anxieties of our times, as well as the stresses and strains of everyday life.

Whether through hi-tech interactive environments or one-on-one dialogues, our goal is to create the rich engagements we need for our collective mental health.

The Big Anxiety is an initiative of UNSW Sydney in association with the Black Dog Institute and partners in the cultural, education and health sectors.

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Artist Biography

Dr Emma Robertson is an award winning artist, whose work is in seven public collections in four countries. The Hospital Trust for Scotland purchased two works for their permanent collection, which were commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council for the exhibition Wordworks. Emma’s work has been competitively selected for a public art commission for a Hospice, for the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, the JADA, and four International Biennials of Drawing. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Scientia Education Fellow / Associate Professor at UNSW, and a previous Artist in Residence at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Her expertise in education relating to entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity at University and Executive Education levels has seen her win three prestigious teaching awards. Her PhD at The University of Sydney explored biophilia, ecopsychology, and artistic, nature-based antidotes to anxiety.

Ross Richardson studies illustration at the University of Edinburgh, and he is inspired by the natural environment, people, patterns, and landscape. His work has been competitively selected three times for the Mosman Youth Art Prize. He has received Highly Commended notifications for the Camden Art Prize, the Nan Manefield Youth Writer’s Award, and the Young Archies. Ross has also been selected for the Hunters Hill Art Exhibition, the Waverley Youth Art Prize, the Royal Art Society of NSW Youth Artist Prize, and the Hornsby Art Prize. In 2015 he won First Place in the Wollongong University Design Award for NSW. His work in this exhibition features watercolours, and also polymer clay three dimensional forms.

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Visit Reflection and Respite, 27 September – 31 October 2019 at Fisher Library levels 2, 3 & 4.

Explore the Library this Info Day – Saturday 15 December

sydney university staff taking guided tour

Discover more about the Library & see what your future might look like as a University of Sydney student.

This Info Day, join us in a tour of Fisher Library, explore our spaces and learn about the fantastic facilities and support available to you as a student through your studies at University. Tours will run throughout the day.

Info Day is also the perfect opportunity to discover ThinkSpace – our technology-driven, creative play-space that provides you with the opportunity to collaborate, design and create interesting things using new technologies. Come in and and try our 3D printer, or experience the world of virtual reality with Oculus Go. Our friendly staff will be on hand to explain the technologies, answer questions and show you some of the other great features of our libraries.

Where: Fisher Library Foyer

When: Saturday 15 December, 10.00am – 2.00pm

virtual reality at ThinkSpace usyd

 

True to Type

If you have ever created a digital document, chances are you’ve come across the terms Italic, Roman, and Sans Serif.

This exhibition tells the story of these three enduring letter-form classifications, through early examples drawn from Rare Books & Special
Collections.

When: 25 October 2018 – 31st January 2019

Where: Fisher Library, Level 3  Corridor & SciTech Library, glass cabinets

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Knowledges Seminar Series: Cultural Astronomy

Sydney Library

The Library is delighted to invite you to the second seminar of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledges Seminar Series. Run in conjunction with the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services), our Seminar Series will include a total of 6 talks held during this year, presented by experts on areas including: History and Language, Cultural Astronomy, Connection to Country, Visual Art, Medicine, and Perspectives on Gender.

Our second seminar focuses on Aboriginal cultural astronomy and cultural competence in research. Our guest speakers include: Robert (Bob) Fuller, PhD Candidate in Ethnography and Carla Guedes, Academic Tutor and Master by Research candidate, both from the University of New South Wales; and James Smith who works for the Department of Museums at The University of Sydney and the Australian Museum.

Bob will discuss his study of the astronomy of the Aboriginal peoples of the NSW Coast, and Carla will explore cultural competence for astronomers developing astronomical facilities in Indigenous sacred lands. James has been involved in a number of Indigenous cultural projects, and will be examining the role of Indigenous culture in contemporary astronomy practices.

Attendance is open to all University staff and students and presents a wonderful opportunity for those wishing to learn more about the rich cultures of our First Nations peoples.

Register here.

Rare Bites: A ticket in Australia’s first lottery

Sydney Library

Our third talk of the Rare Bites series is coming soon!

When: 30 May; 1-1.30pm

Where: New Law School Annex, Seminar Room 028

Speaker: Dr Neil Radford

In this talk Dr Radford will discuss Australia’s first lottery, held in Sydney in 1849. This lottery was surrounded by controversy and was probably illegal. It was immensely popular however, and the government turned a blind eye because it seemed the only way of averting the consequences of a financial disaster. The Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections holds one of the tickets issued for the lottery, plus the full list of prizes.

About the speaker:

Dr Neil Radford was the University Librarian 1980-1996. He is currently Patron of the Friends of the University of Sydney Library; on the Executive of the Chancellor’s Committee, and Voluntary Editor at the Dictionary of Sydney.

Register here.

Guided Exhibition Walk: Phyllis Kaberry and the Sepik

Phyllis Kaberry

The Phyllis Kaberry exhibition is on but we would like you to join us for a guided exhibition walk.

When: 4 July; 1 –1:45pm

Where: Fisher Library, level 3 and SciTech Library

Speakers: Dr Jude Philp, Senior Curator at University Museum and Nyree Morrison, Senior Archivist at University Archives

This guided walk will be conducted through the exhibition currently on display in the Fisher Library Level 3 and the SciTech Library. The exhibition was curated by anthropologist Diane Losche from the collections of Sydney’s Anthropology Department held by Rare Books and Special Collections, University Archives and the Macleay Museum. It focuses on Sydney anthropologist Phyllis Kaberry to commemorate the inscription of the Anthropological Field Research and Teaching Records, University of Sydney, 1926-1956 into the UNESCO Memory of the World Australian

Register here

More about Phyllis Kaberry and the Sepik:

In 1923 at a meeting of the international Pan-Pacific Congress at the University of Sydney the Australian government was urged to establish a Department of Anthropology and to fund urgent anthropological research in the region to counter the devastating effects of colonisation. The University of Sydney took up the challenge, instituting the first Department of Anthropology in the Australian-Pacific region with the appointment of AR Radcliffe Brown in 1926.

Many of the first generation of men and women who were taught at Sydney worked in isolation for periods of a year to eighteen months in areas where English was not spoken, in places not inscribed on maps, and with limited contact with people outside the community they were studying. For their work they were obliged to learn map making, linguistics and medical skills alongside their anthropological training.

The University’s Archives and Macleay Museum today look after the enormous wealth of information that these anthropologists produced from their interactions with Australian Aboriginal and Pacific peoples. For this exhibition we have focussed on the work of Phyllis Kaberry, the first female professional anthropologist to emerge from the Department.

This is a joint exhibition between Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of Sydney Library, University Archives and Museums to commemorate the inscription of the Anthropological Field Research and Teaching Records, University of Sydney, 1926-1956 into the UNESCO Memory of the World Australian Register.

The exhibition is being showcased on level 3 of Fisher and Sci Tech Libraries until August 2018.