The Australian object : making material histories / edited by Molly Duggins, Mark De Vitis, and Georgina Cole.

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2026.
©2026

xix, 270 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Material culture of art and design

This innovative volume highlights how a unique intermingling of history, culture, and ecology has become the defining aspect of Australian material culture, and presents a powerful challenge to the long-held stereotype of Australian art history as remote, derivative and exotic. Featuring a combination of essays, interviews, and object case studies by leading and emerging scholars, artists, and curators, The Australian Object places the historical and contemporary in dialogue, invoking traditional knowledge systems, migrant experiences, transnational approaches, and ecological interventions to unsettle and reposition Australian object histories. Guided by the form, use, and exchange of interstitial objects, the networked structure offers a commentary on shared patterns of use whilst rejecting essentialist narratives. Across three overlapping thematic sections - Migrations, Traces, and Terrains - the volume combines methodologies from art history, material culture studies, and the environmental humanities to challenge fixed notions of empire and nationhood. It positions the use-value, formal characteristics, social contexts and cultural afterlives of objects as its structuring principle with four detailed focus studies, tracking the routes of objects as they traverse across Oceania and the tropics. It follows Pacific Rim aesthetic furniture, to postcards for the Chinese market; charts the various afterlives of these objects; and shines a light on First Nations' cultural heritage, such as Dharawal weaving practices. The very term 'Australian object' and its associated disciplines are called into question as writers propose divergent frameworks that emphasise connection and interchange and examine the material culture that Australia has shaped, denied, and inspired. Interweaving object narratives previously excluded from scholarly discourse, The Australian Object offers a fresh interpretation of the complex region and its cultural heritage through interstitial objects that elide Australia's past, present, and potential futures, and will inform our understanding of Australian culture and history.

1350507830
9781350507838

Art objects Australia.
Art, Australian.
National characteristics, Australian.
Objets d'art Australie.
Art australien.
Australiens.
Art objects
Australia

Electronic books.

Duggins, Molly, editor.
De Vitis, Mark, editor.
Cole, Georgina, editor.
Bloomsbury (Firm), publisher.
Material culture of art and design.

Location: Library main 325402
Call No.: 325402
Copy: 1
Status: Available