Urbanists and planners need to engage in broader and messier practices if they are to design inclusive and accessible public spaces. The production of space is as much a social and political process, as a physical one, and identities of places are often latent, contested and invisible. A new genre of artists and creative practitioners are engaging in public space, using site-based practices that catalyse new uses, build new constituencies, and amplify marginalised voices.
Moderated by Mel Dodd, this roundtable event will bring together five leading creative practitioners from Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) – Gene Bawden, N’arweet Carolyn Briggs, Emily Floyd, Timothy Moore and Sarah Lynn Rees – all working in the public realm, to reveal a more representative city and explore the ways we can make spaces truly public.
This panel discussion will commence at 6:30pm sharp in the main gallery space, and will be followed by drinks and conversation in the foyer from 7:30–8pm.
About the Speakers
Mel Dodd (Moderator)
Professor Mel Dodd is Head of Architecture at Monash Art, Design and Architecture and Director of Monash Urban Lab. She has led architecture at a range of institutions since 1995, including the CASS, in London, RMIT University, and most recently Spatial Practices at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. She has unique experience with innovative public realm collaborations between universities, external agencies and communities. Publications include ‘Live Projects: Designing with People’ (RMIT Press, 2012) and ‘Spatial Practices: Modes of Action and Engagement with the City (Routledge 2019).
Gene Bawden
Associate Professor Gene Bawden is an award winning communication designer and Head of the Design Department at Monash Art, Design and Architecture. As Co-director of the XYX Lab, Gene combines his knowledge of gendered spatial practices and his communication design expertise within collaborative research projects aimed at mitigating gender inequity in Australia’s urban environments.
N’arweet Carolyn Briggs
N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs AM is founding Chair of the Boonwurrung Land and Sea Council and custodian of the Yalukit Willam in Birrung-ga. She is Indigenous Research Fellow in the Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous research lab, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University.
Emily Floyd
Emily Floyd is an internationally acclaimed public artist and sculptor and a Senior Lecturer at Monash Art, Design and Architecture. She explores the history of play, with works designed for public engagement and interaction. Emily has been commissioned to produce multiple public art pieces in Melbourne and Sydney and her works are held in museum collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Gallery of Modern Art Queensland, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Monash Museum of Art, Melbourne and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Timothy Moore
Timothy Moore is a director of Sibling Architecture, lecturer of architecture at Monash University, and the co-curator of Melbourne Design Week presented by the National Gallery of Victoria. Timothy also works as a researcher at Monash University’s XYX Lab, which explores gender-sensitive design practices and theory where he has contributed to exhibitions, publications, events and advocacy that investigates the intersections of sexuality, gender and architecture.
Sarah Lynn Rees
Sarah Lynn Rees is an associate and Lead Indigenous Advisor at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, is a Lecturer at Monash University and program advisor and curator of the BLAKitecture series for MPavilion. She is Director of Parlour: Women, Equity, Architecture, a member of the Victorian Design Review Panel for the Office of the Victorian Government Architect, and Co-Chair of the Australian Institute of Architects First Nations Advisory Working Group.
