FACING NEW WORLDS: AN AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL LINKAGE PROJECT

I am pleased to be involved with a major research project into comparative histories of Australasia and North America through biography and portraiture, 1750-1850, headed up by Dr. Kate Fullagar. This project is generously funded by the ARC Linkage Projects Scheme and based in the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. It is supported by Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, and the Australian National University.

Facing New Worlds turns around a major exhibition to be held at the National Portrait Gallery in 2020 in conjunction with the Smithsonian. This exhibition will explore comparisons between indigenous and settler experiences in Australia and the United States, through portraiture and biography, from the late 18th to the early 19th centuries.

Our research project extends the remit of this exhibition to look at the Australia-Pacific region as a whole, as well as all of North America, during this critical era of modern imperial formation. Its focus on life representation brings together historians, art historians, curators, and cultural analysts. Our team will work together on an earlier mini-exhibition of the Australasian region, as well as on a scholarly catalogue to accompany the major exhibition, and numerous other academic and public outputs and events.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council, the National Portrait Gallery, Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, and the Australian National University.

For more information about our aims, people, partners, exhibitions, associated events, and publications, please see our dedicated website, Facing New Worlds.

To read more about the background to this project and our fuller aims, download this document: Aims and Background of Facing New Worlds