Research

Dr Louise Curham is an archivist, media artist and researcher based in Canberra. She is an online lecturer in Curtin University’s iSchool, teaching into the archives, records and digital preservation subjects. Louise uses her art and her expertise as an archivist to explore themes that flow from old media, ranging from digitisation to the impact of algorithm-based technology on citizens.

Louise’s research explores the relevance of old media to contemporary audiences and practitioners. This encompasses questions about the effective archiving of old media, particularly old media involved in live performance. These live works pose a challenge for archiving because digitising them does not convey all that is meaningful about them – the means to perform them live in the future is also needed. Louise uses her credentials as an archivist and a creative practitioner in media art to conduct this research.

Louise also researches questions that are aimed at contributing solutions to specific challenges in records, archives and preservation. This includes efforts to decolonise collections. The context here is that the majority of archives and records in Australia reflect the settler colonist story. Practices that reckon with this reality and adapt to what contemporary Australian society expects from its collections are a key focus of the associated professions.

A focus in the international archives literature is on community collections. This is a response to the critique that archivists are powerful gatekeepers making decisions about what’s important enough to collect and how to represent what’s in the collection. The archival community is actively working on meaningful ways to expand who makes these decisions and how. Since 2020, Louise has been working on a community archives project with her suburb in Canberra, Kambah, notorious as one of the biggest bogan suburbs in Australia.

Finally, Louise draws on her experience from the National Archives of Australia in information and data management and governance. Records play are crucial to society for both accountability reasons and cultural heritage purposes. While society understands the cultural heritage side quite well, the accountability side is not well understood. This has consequences for the rights of citizens and for democracy (for example, it is noted in many public inquiries). It also has consequences for the standing of the recordkeeping profession.

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EDUCATION

Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Charles Sturt University (in part), 2022
Doctor of Philosophy, Creative Arts and Writing, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra 2021
Graduate Diploma of Science (Information Services) (Archives & Records), Edith Cowan University, 2013
Graduate Certificate in Audiovisual Archiving, Charles Sturt University, 2006
Master of Fine Arts, Time Based Art, College of Fine Arts, University of New South, 2005
Managing Historical Documents certificate, School of History, University of NSW, 2002
Diploma of Visual Arts (Painting), Victoria University, Melbourne (in part), 1999
Bachelor of Arts, VCA School of Film & Television 1993

MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
2023 – present Creative Practice Journal – editorial committee member
2020 – present – Member Creative Practice Circle, CSU
2015 – present – Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (member)
2013 – present – Australian Society of Archivists (accredited professional)
2003 – present – Founding member, Teaching and Learning Cinema artist collective, Sydney

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Curtin University, lecturer, LARIS discipline, iSchool, MCASI 2023–
Charles Sturt University, lecturer, School of Information & Communication Studies 2020–2023
Charles Sturt University, sessional lecturer, School of Information Studies, Session 2 2020
University of Canberra, Faculty of Arts and Design, course convenor (sessional), Professional Media Projects, 2018
University of Canberra, Faculty of Arts and Design, sessional tutor, Editing Sound and Image and Major Creative Projects, 2018

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

National Archives of Australia, Commonwealth Information Policy, assistant director, Canberra, 2016–2019
National Archives of Australia, Government Information Assurance and Policy, Digital Strategy and Solutions, assistant director, Canberra, 2014–2016
National Archives of Australia, Government Information Management, Agency Accountability project officer, Canberra, 2009–2014
dLux Media Arts, Sydney, consulting archivist, preparation of significance assessment under National Library Community Heritage Grant, 2014
Performance Space, Sydney, consulting archivist, preparation of significance assessment under National Library Community Heritage Grant, 2010
Australian National Maritime Museum, records manager, Sydney, 2007-9
National Archives of Australia, Audiovisual Preservation project officer, Sydney, 2002-7

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS – NON-TRADITIONAL RESEARCH CREATIVE OUTPUTS

Curham, L. (2023). Kambah, exhibition Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Canberra, 20 Jan to 4 March https://www.tuggeranongarts.com/events/lousie-curham-kambah/

Curham, L, Ihlein, L & Haynes, N. (2022). Horror Film 1: Developing and testing a user manual for Malcolm Le Grice’s ‘Horror Film 1’ (1971) in the Canberra Art Biennial https://contour556.com.au/artist/louise-curham-lucas-ilhein-nicci-haines/

Curham, L. (2022). Reputational repair – Canberra’s bogan suburb in Upending | Mending, Centre for Creative and Cultural Research exhibition, Belconnen Arts Centre https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3110606642/view

Curham L & Loo L. (2019). Stand-in Lab exhibition PhotoAccess, Canberra, Jun-Jul.

Curham L & Cairncross B. (2019). Archival Provocations in Extra! Extra! curated by Lucas Ihlein, in the 50 Years of Kaldor Public Art Projects exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW.

Curham L. (2015). A film of one’s own [archive fever] exhibition, PhotoAccess, Canberra, 22 Oct-17 Nov.

Law, J. , & Curham, L. (2014). Stills Fragments Landscapes, exhibition at Belconnen Arts Centre, Canbera http://www.jolaw.org/stills-fragments-landscapes/

Law, J. , & Curham, L. . (2012). Still Life| Moving Fragments, exhibition, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney http://www.photonicsmedia.net/projects/slmf

Ihlein, L. M., & Curham, L. (2009). (Wo)Man With Mirror a User’s Manual. in Imprint, curator Anneke Jaspers, exhibition, Artspace, Sydney.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (NON TRADITIONAL) – REPORTS & BLOGS

Curham, L. ‘Manual Making for Ephemeral Art’, essay supporting ‘A Sun Dance’ by Rochelle Haley, National Gallery of Australia, https://nga.gov.au/stories-ideas/manual-making-for-ephemeral-art/

Curham L & De Bruyn D. (2022, Jan 29) Let’s talk about expanded cinema. Dialogics. https://blogs.deakin.edu.au/dialogic/2022/01/29/lets-talk-about-expanded-cinema/

Curham, L. (2015). dLux Media Arts Significance Assessment. https://www.academia.edu/21672066/dLux_Media_Arts_Significance_Assessment_2015

Curham, L. (2011). Performance Space Archives significance assessment report October 2011 (p. 33). Performance Space. https://www.academia.edu/13313833/Performance_Space_Archives_significance_assessment_report_October_2011

Ihlein, L., & Curham, L. (2009). Re-Enacting Expanded Cinema: Three Case Studies. Re:live – Third International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology, Melbourne. http://teachingandlearningcinema.org/2012/03/29/re-enacting-expanded-cinema-three-case-studies/

PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Curham, L, De Bruyn, D & Zuvela, Z. (Accepted 2022). ‘Ghost writing – where is Australian experimental film?’ in the Palgrave Macmillan Handbook of Experimental Film, eds. Jonathan Walley and Kim Knowles. Palgrave Macmillan.

Curham, L. (2021). Growth rings and digital preservation: Three meditations on strategies to preserve performance-dependent items. In iPRES 2021: 17th International conference on digital preservation iPRES 2021.

Curham, L. (2017). Performing Digital – Multiple Perspectives on a Living Archive. Archives and Manuscripts, 45(2), 167–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/01576895.2017.1330597

Curham, L. (2016). Caring for Live Art that Eludes Digital Preservation. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Digital Preservation, 266–267, Bern, Switzerland https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/view/o:503189

Ihlein, L., & Curham, L. (2015). Reaching Through to the Object: Re-enacting Malcolm Le Grice’s Horror Film 1. Performance Matters, 1(1–2), 24–40. https://performancematters-thejournal.com/index.php/pm/article/view/14

Curham, L & Gamble, R. (2008). ‘Moving Image’ and ‘Sound’. Keeping Archives (3rd ed.), Bettington et al (eds.) Australia: Australian Society of Archivists.

THESES

Curham, L. (2021). Tending the archive: How re-use of ephemeral artworks contributes new knowledge to the archive that preserves them, strengthening the artworks and aiding their survival. [Doctoral Thesis, University of Canberra]. University of Canberra. https://doi.org/10.26191/72hx-5j58

Curham, L. (2004). Surface and Projection – an Investigation of the Event of Cinema [Master of Fine Arts thesis, University of NSW]. https://www.academia.edu/39648659/Surface_and_Projection_an_investigation_of_the_event_of_cinema

SELECTED TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS

Curham, L. (2024). Interactive Oral Assessment [workshop], WA Learning and Teaching Forum, Feb, Perth.

Curham, L. (2023). Invited talk for the 2nd International Seminar of Documents, Records and Archives, hosted by Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, Oct, online and Jakarta.

Curham, L. (2023). Higher Education and Records and Information Management, RIMPA Education Summit, Oct, Gold Coast.

Curham, L. (2023). Archives as Cultural Heritage and the Power of Remembering, Universitas Indonesia Program Pendidikan Vokasi, Sep, Jakarta.

Curham, L. (2023). Let’s talk about expanded cinema in South East Asia. Short paper presented at South East Asia Pacific Audio Visual Archiving Association (SEAPAVAA), online and Bangkok, Thailand.

Curham, L. (2022). Expanded cinema as a crevice community. Paper presented at Stories from the Crevice Communities, symposium of the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Creative Practice Circle, online and Wagga Wagga, Australia.

Curham, L. (2022). Meeting students face-to-face, a reflection on introducing Interactive Oral Assessments in Information Studies. Paper presented at CSU EdX, online, Australia

Curham, L. (2022). Sustainable equals holistic Formal education for green archivists. Paper presented at 2022 Virtual International Symposium of the Southeast Asia Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (SARBICA)., Singapore, Singapore.

Curham, L. (2022). Digitising for preservation – the past informs the future. 1-11. Paper presented at RIMPA Live 2022, Canberra.

Curham, L. (2022). Digitising for preservation – the past informs the future. 1-11. Public talk with FujiFiilm at Information Awareness Month, Canberra.

Carroll, M., Randell-Moon, H., & Curham, L. (2022). Whiteness and goodness: An initial exploration of the history of Australian libraries and collections as forces of social control and whiteness.. Paper presented at American Library Association , United States.

Curham, L & Golding, S. (2021). Let’s talk about expanded cinema panel convened in the Art Association of Australia and NZ (AAANZ) annual conference ‘IMPACT’, 8-10 December, Sydney and online.

Curham, L. (2021). Metadata as growth rings. Paper presented at Australian Society of Archivists annual conference, Brisbane.

Curham, L. (2021). In Covid-19 times, kindness makes a difference. Paper presented at CSU EdX annual conference of teaching and learning, online.

More information about Louise

The focus of my research is on 1) heritage that eludes digitisation and 2) what can be learnt from old media about our current techno-cultural situation.

Outputs for the third quarter of 2023 are three ‘users manuals’. These are print and digital publications that set out instructions to perform artworks that involve performance.

Outputs confirmed for 2024 include an exhibition exploring participation in community archiving enabled by old media; a journal article on manual making and DNA storage focused on one of the ‘user’s manual projects’; publication in peer reviewed conference proceedings of a paper on manual making; works included in an exhibition on Australian film for the Canberra Art Biennial.

Outputs in discussion for 2024 include a workshop presentation in the European Media Arts Festival June 2024 in June, a celebrated art festival; a public program for an exhibition on Australian abstract film; curator/programmer for a public screening of new work by artist Malcolm Le Grice, ‘Dragon’; the development of a project on Horror Film 1 with Curtin’s HIVE; research into expanded cinema in the Asia Pacific; research and grant development for the project investigating the consequences of a 1000 shelf life for heritage items stored on DNA; teaching and learning focus on Australian film collections to develop research on archives of Australian experimental film.

Outputs for 2025 include development of a physical archives for Australian experimental film. Publication and presentation to the international film community on manual making for expanded cinema, and also for the performance art community.

Teaching and Learning Cinema, re-enactment and expanded cinema

Since 2003, myself and Dr Lucas Ihlein (University of Wollongong) have collaborated under the nom de plume Teaching and Learning Cinema.

Research outputs over this 20 years includes exhibitions, performances, conference contributions (papers, panels, posters) and scholarly writing.

A significant output has been the development of a methodology for intergenerational transmission of artworks that were made to be experienced by live, with audiences present in the flesh. We have developed a method that involves re-making the works through re-enactment and documenting that experience in instruction manuals. These manuals have been tested and shown to successfully transmit the works.

The work evolves through case studies of artworks to which we apply our methodology.

TLC’s case studies:

Anthony McCall’s Line Describing A Cone Australian tour 2005
Performance Space, 2008 Anthony McCall’s Long Film for Ambient Light re-enactment, William Raban’s 2’45” re-enacted as Six Minutes and William Raban’s Breath, re-enactment Performance Space 2008
Guy Sherwin’s Man With Mirror 2008–
Lynn Loo’s Autumn Fog 2019–
Malcolm Le Grice’s Horror Film 1 2013–

TLC’s current research projects:

Making manuals to archive things that need to be experienced and thus, elude digitisation

There are ephemeral, performative cultural practices and artefacts that are not easily captured, stored and transmitted by digital means. Research into how to archive these items that evade effective digitisation and recording involves several projects.

Horror Film 1 manual development

Horror Film 1 is a work that combines film and live bodies. Recordings of this work show some aspects of it and they have a role to play in archiving it. But the creative group of the late 1960s and 1970s who made these works of what they called expanded cinema were made specifically to be experienced live, in the flesh. Malcolm Le Grice, the artist who made Horror Film 1 is in his 80s. He has declared he no longer wants to perform. TLC has worked with Malcolm since 2013 to prepare a manual to support the transmission of performance of Horror Film 1 to a new generation of artists.

Sub projects:

developing, testing and disseminating the manual
an investigation of the practical issues of using DNA as a storage medium for the manual and of the conceptual issues arising – what information is required to go into the manual when it has a potential shelf life of 1000 years? Collaborators include artist Andrew Gryf Paterson and data scientist Raja Appuswamy.

Project dates: 2013-14; 2022 ongoing.
Grants: Donald Horne Fellowship, University of Canberra 2022, 8K, Arts ACT 2013 $7K, MCASI small grants $1K

Outputs to date:
Artwork: Manual edition 1 Sep 2022
Performances: Canberra Contemporary Art Society performance Louise Curham, June 2014; Canberra Art Biennial performances Nicci Haynes Sep 30 2022, Lucas Ihlein Oct 28 2022; Cinzia Nistico Netherlands Sep 2023; Cinzia Nistico Belgium Oct 2023.
Conference papers: iPRES 2023.

In progress: artwork manual edition 2; artwork – physical manual; peer reviewed article – ISEA 2024

Autumn Fog manual making

This project is a case study exploring producing a manual in order to support the distribution and acquisition of film performance. British artist Lynn Loo’s Autumn Fog is a work for performer-projectionist and two 16mm projectors. Works known like Lynn’s, known as expanded cinema, are shown in a dynamic international community around the emergence of artists-run 16mm film labs that grows out of traditions of experimental film. The key international distributors and collectors of experimental film baulk at collector expanded cinema yet it is a key mode of expression in this community. Drawing on the techniques Curham and colleague Lucas Ihlein have developed for making manuals, this project developed this practice by adding prototyping during manual development. It also developed the exhibition and curatorial practices of Teaching and Learning Cinema by staging the manual development as an exhibition over 4 weeks with numerous public events in which developments to the manual were tested.

Outputs to date:
Exhibition: The Stand-in Lab, PhotoAccess, Canberra 2019
Conference presentations: WeMissipRES 2020

Archiving experience

TLC’s practice has focused on expanded cinema, art from the late 1960s and 1970s that brought together aspects of experimental film with live performance. Expanded cinema is a compelling example where methods for archiving experience are needed. Recordings of expanded cinema in photographs and moving image (video and 16mm film) can convey some aspects of these works but the intention of the works was that audiences experienced them live. Lessons apply to other media such as dance and music performance.

A collaboration with Curtin’s HIVE plans to explore using 3D recording technologies to see if they can usefully teach future performers key aspects of the experience of works like Horror Film 1.

Louise’s scholarship

The lines between work in the TLC collaboration and my individual scholarship are not always clear cut but these are projects that I have initiated and lead.

Applying TLC’s manual making techniques to other heritage

This collaboration with artist and choreographer Rochelle Haley explores developing a manual to support a work made for dancers, sunlight and architecture. The work adapts to different configurations of these elements. The work is a commission from the National Gallery of Australia. The use of the manual breaks new ground in performance art archiving methods.

Output: exhibition essay (forthcoming)

Old media as new media

TLC has presented events and screenings since 2003. Landmark events was the Primary Sources series Sydney 2004-5 at Lanfranchis and other venues in inner Sydney. TLC uses the precious 16mm film print collection at the NFSA, the Non-Theatrical Lending Collection to share experimental film culture with Australian artists and art lovers and hosts local and visiting artists eg 16mm screenings during Loo Curham exhibition and Antics Hair Microcinema screenings.

Outputs: TLC has a long list of public events since2003. In early 2023, I established and ran the Antics Hair Microcinema in Canberra.

Outputs: 3 public screenings, Jan, Feb, March 2023.

Experimental film histories – building capacity to understand Australian expanded cinema better

TLC has spent time working on the expanded cinema works of the London Film Makers Co-op. That work is enabled by the extensive scholarship on UK experimental film, including expanded cinema. Australia has a rich but under researched history of similar practices. Research into creative use of super 8 formed a focus in my master of fine arts thesis (2004). Subsequently I have made archival appraisals of experimental art and experimental film collections in Australia (Performance Space 2012, dLux Media Art 2015).

Outputs: MFA; significance assessment reports; Dialogics blog; AAANZ panel; chapter De Bruyn Curham Zuvela 2022 for Palgrave Macmillan.

Locating expanded cinema in the Asia Pacific region

In Dec 2021 I organised a panel in the annual conference of the art historians of our region, AAANZ. This revealed a lack of scholarship on expanded cinema in the region. I am using networks in audiovisual preservation to locate these works. Outputs: conference presentation SEAPAVAA 2023

Old media shines a light on the current techno-social context

A theme in Louise’s work is exploring the connections between old media and the current techno-social environment eg the 16mm apparatus can be viewed as a physical algorithm and the work of structural film and works in that tradition can be seen as a series of experiments of that algorithm. This apparatus/algorithm reveals all its workings to the human eye and hand, a completely mechanical and chemical process. This has the potential to offer insights and critique of the out-of-sight algorithms of contemporary technology including the large statistical models that support the current forms of generative artificial intelligence. Operations of chance have played a role in structural film and its philosophy but those are writ large in the statistical probability calculations of the large statistical models emerging around us in 2023. Events that have explored this potential include the Old Media Orchestra at Canberra festivals Art Not Apart and SoundOut. The Old Media Orchestra brought together mechanical media of the 20th century and some electronic media (VHS, slide projection, 35mm strip projection, 16mm projection, 8mm projection, overhead projection, reel to reel audio tape, radio).