What links stone circles, public libraries, the seas of the Torres Strait, and 1980s pop band The Teardrop Explodes?
You can find out in my keynote from last week’s SWITCH 2016 conference in New South Wales – “Science Fiction Double Feature” is available to download from their website as a PDF.
I’m in the coastal town of Ulladulla to talk libraries with people from across the state of New South Wales at the SWITCH 2016 conference.
You can catch up with my keynote “Science Fiction Double Feature” from lunchtime (AEDT) Wednesday – try the #switch2016 hashtag on Twitter – and read the keynote paper on the SWITCH website (PDF download).
The paper will be up on the SWITCH website shortly after the event.
On Friday, I was guest speaker at South Australia’s Crawford Awards for Library Innovation.
It was a chance to explore how Aussie libraries ensure that they create services for and with their communities – and acknowledge the specific colonial history of this land.
It was also an opportunity to celebrate many of the friends and colleagues I’ve worked with during my residency at the State Library of Queensland.
The Award was given to the rural South Australian city of Murray Bridge for a project working with local Aboriginal elders, introducing the Ngarrindjeri language to a new generation through stories and song.
Congratulations to Tim Law, Georgina Trevorrow, and all at Murray Bridge who are working to acknowledge the traditional owners of the Murraylands and support their community.
“I want to see technology used for good, but I’m fascinated by the possibilities for destruction!”
Joel Edmondson, CEO of Queensland’s QMusic network talks digital technology, music beyond entertainment, mysterious orchestras in the middle of the ocean, and the “nefarious, sulphuric beginning of life” in this week’s Marvellous, Electrical.
I’m honoured to be guest speaker at the ceremony for the annual Crawford Award (no, not that one – the one for library innovation in South Australia). It takes place in Adelaide this Friday.
I’ve never been to Adelaide, and I’m doubly excited because it’s the home of one of the greatest Aussie television shows, Danger 5.
I’m sure that’s exactly what the Crawford Award show is going to be like.
This weekend sees the launch of Deathfest, Brisbane’s week long microfestival which explores, challenges, and celebrates our understanding of death, dying, and bereavement.
I sat down for a special panel discussion with three guests to discuss grief, death, and end-of-life care in modern-day Queensland.
Joining me were Fiona Hawthorne, general manager at Hummingbird House, Queensland’s first children’s hospice; Ian Mellor, who manages body bequests for Queensland University of Technology; and Dr Sarah Winch, healthcare ethicist at the University of Queensland and author of Best Death Possible.
We talked about green burials, rituals of death in the 21st century, and the largely hidden processes, procedures, and institutions which deal with death in our society.
In an age when literacy has come to mean so many things – always with a sense of empowering people to read or make sense of some new terrain, topic, or experience – what would it mean for us to become truly “death literate”?
Our discussion will be online soon.
For more on healthcare and wellbeing work during my 2016 Queensland residency, read “On Health and Wellbeing” and “Giant Robots Need Therapy Too“.
On Wednesday 16th November, I’ll be moderating panels and giving a short plenary at GoDigi’s Digital Inclusion Forum in Sydney.
We’ll hear about innovation and equity, digital technology and social housing, and accessibility in the information age – from speakers like Rachel Thomson of Australia Post, Ishtar Vij of Google, and Laurie Patton of Internet Australia.
It’s free to attend, so if you’re in Sydney and interested in our digital future, come along and say hi.
Last month I spoke at the Liberact conference of digital interactive experiences.
My paper was ‘Play, Chance, and Comics: Losing Control In Digital Space’.
We explored comics, creativity…and what digital designers could learn from the noticeboard at a gym.
You can see an annotated PDF download of my presentation here.
During my 2016 residency, staff at the State Library of Queensland and Griffith University have been joining forces to explore news ways for communities to engage with research.
Read about our Fun Palace, Turkey Science, and Giant Robot adventures at the SLQ Today blog.
I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be continuing my residency with the State Library of Queensland through to the beginning of April 2017.
In the new year, I’ll be working with the library’s Regional Access and Partnerships team to deliver programs, partnerships, and events for rural and regional areas in Australia’s Sunshine State.
Watch this space for the latest news!
matt finch / mechanical dolphin 
