Welcome to our first ever issue of CAWRI News, where we’ll be informing and inspiring you about the cutting-edge research and engagement activities of the University of Melbourne's Creativity and Wellbeing Research Initiative (CAWRI). Note: you have received CAWRI News because CAWRI has your email address on file from previous correspondence. We will send out approximately 5-6 issues per year. If you don't want to receive these, click 'unsubscribe' at the bottom of this email, or contact Frederic Kiernan (CAWRI Research Coordinator) at kiernanf@unimelb.edu.au. In this
issue: - From the Chair
- Creativity and Wellbeing Symposium (26 November 2019)
- Call for Papers: International Journal of Wellbeing
- Research seed funding opportunities in 2020
- CAWRI project spotlight: ‘Healthy people, healthy country, and healthy art careers’
From the ChairI am very pleased to announce the first issue of the CAWRI News. Since officially launching earlier this year, CAWRI has made major strides towards understanding how creativity and wellbeing intersect, and much more is still to come.
This inaugural issue provides an opportunity to reflect on CAWRI’s achievements in 2019; these have included a ‘research speed-dating’ networking event, a public seminar on ‘creative spaces for wellbeing’, and the launch of 8 collaborative, inter-Faculty research projects which explore the relationship between creativity and wellbeing from a range of disciplinary perspectives (for more on this, see our website).
But I also hope this inaugural issue will inspire readers to connect with CAWRI as it gains further traction: later this month, for example, an exploratory symposium is planned, where local and international speakers will inspire and encourage delegates to produce collaborative research for publication in a special ‘creativity and wellbeing’ issue of the International Journal of Wellbeing (supported by CAWRI). Further research funding will also be available through CAWRI next year (see below for more details about these opportunities).
So while we celebrate the achievements of 2019, there is still much more to do, and our team is very excited to rise to these challenges.
Professor Jane Davidson
Chair, Creativity and Wellbeing Research Initiative
SYMPOSIUM 2019Creativity and Wellbeing:
Mapping the Territory26 November 2019
9am to 4pm Prudence Myer Studio,
Ian Potter Southbank Centre
Sturt Street, Southbank.
This symposium, organised and hosted by CAWRI, brings together academics from various universities and disciplines to investigate the relationship between creativity and wellbeing, and how creativity may foster wellbeing. Delegates are encouraged to bring notes on “work-in-progress” and participate in the interactive discussion groups. Keynote speakers:
John Sutton (Macquarie University), Carol Brown (University of Melbourne), Charles Green (University of Melbourne), and Tim Lomas (University of East London, via video). Register by 18 November 2019.
RESEARCH AND PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES
International Journal of Wellbeing special issue: Creativity and Wellbeing. The International Journal of Wellbeing is now accepting original high-quality scholarly articles of appropriate length on the topic of ‘creativity and wellbeing’, broadly construed. Submissions should be genuinely interdisciplinary, but wellbeing research of a uni-disciplinary nature may be accepted if it is of exceptional quality. Priority will be given to papers that directly link wellbeing and creativity. The call for submissions for the special issue closes on 1 February
2020. The special issue is supported by CAWRI.
Research seed funding opportunities in 2020In 2020 CAWRI will offer a seed funding scheme for grants up to $13000 to support inter-Faculty research projects that explore the relationship between creativity and wellbeing. The primary purpose of the scheme is to build capacity and support new and emerging research collaborations in the theme area. Applications will open on 15 January 2020, with submissions due 1 March 2020.
Image credit: Mangkajarda wetlands near Mowanjum. Photo by Sally Treloyn, 2018.
Healthy people, healthy country, and healthy art careers The links between the social and emotional wellbeing of people and the physical and spiritual wellbeing of country are widely recognised in Indigenous public and research spaces, informing the trope ‘healthy country, healthy people’. The role of artistic and creative practice in this nexus is often assumed in the Indigenous context, but there is much more to learn about the nature of this role, and, especially, how the careers of Indigenous artists are intertwined with the health and wellbeing of people and country in remote
Indigenous communities. This project, led by coordinating investigator Megan McPherson (Faculty of Fine Arts and Music), explores this question by undertaking a printmaking workshop in collaboration with Indigenous artist-researchers from Mowanjum Art Centre in the west Kimberley. When asked what drew her towards the topic, McPherson stated “I am interested in how artists’ creative practice and art careers influence their understanding of creativity and wellbeing." She also said that she hopes this seed funding opportunity will “support the use of printmaking in the Mowanjum art community and facilitate Indigenous artists’ careers”. McPherson and her research team are busy preparing for the
workshop later this month, and are documenting the project on their blog. For more information about the project, you can also visit their project page on the CAWRI website.
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