International Australian Studies Association (InASA) conference 2025

Description

Themed Conference: Australian Studies in the 21st Century: Human and More-Than-Human Worlds Interactions, Perspectives, Futures . Held at Macquarie University. Convened by Prof Hsu-Ming Teo.

Virginia Madsen and Hamish Sewell presented : ‘Portland as storied-land: re-animating an Australian industrial town through voice, history and memory; encountering a place and its fault lines with locative media’

Abstract: If voices and stories can make places appear real and meaningful, the reality strikes home as places quite literally speak to us as we walk down a street equipped with a mobile phone. Beyond the familiar museum audio tour or that created by signage appended to sites in the name of place-making, compelling locative audio narratives now offer an embodied listening experience. How does this place-infused ‘landscape documentary’ work? How to narrate a seemingly lost world back into the present, and what impasses do the makers confront when matters are sensitive? Two radio documentary veterans, one a media historian, the other Soundtrails’ founder, unpack the making of the Portland Soundtrail which brings to life one of Australia’s least known, yet most significant 20th century industrial powerhouses. While the industrial setting evokes a world of men and cement, and those ‘accidentally killed’ on the job, there are also the voices of women: those who raised a generation of fatherless children, or a voice long forgotten by the town, a woman with a singular vision who was prompted to action and to enter ‘official’ history. Collective and individual, these stories rise from the still impressive visible structures, the silent ‘heritage’ of the town now made audible, reanimated by voice. Yet, as in every small town, fault lines are to be crossed, while others remain off limits.

Period	5 Feb 2025 → 7 Feb 2025
Held at	School of Communication, Society and Culture
Degree of Recognition	International