MPavilion

Revisit the second MPavilion book club of the season, with thoughts from Cher Tan, Jaclyn Crupi, Bridget Caldwell, Chris Somerville and Justine Hyde, who’ll each reflect on one of the five shortlisted titles: Act of Grace by Anna Krien, Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas, Simpson Returns by Wayne Macauley, The House of Youssef by Yumna Kassab and The Yield by Tara June Winch.

Revisit this MTalks exploring storytelling processes and speculating about how architecture, a form of storytelling in itself, can contribute to and work in harmony with Indigenous understandings of Country. Our interpretation of the world we live in is communicated through stories and narratives. We can’t separate ourselves from these stories in the same way we can from data and science. This process of storytelling engenders empathy and equality with everything in our environment.

MPavilion’s third annual BLAKitecture forum brings together Indigenous built environment practitioners on the Yaluk-ut Weelam land of the Boon Wurrung people. The forum aims to centralise Indigenous voices in conversations about architecture, the representation of histories, the present state and the future of our built environments. BLAKitecture 2019/20 is co-curated by MPavilion’s program consultant Sarah Lynn Rees and Jack Mitchell.

This event is supported by RACV.

The notion of neurodiversity—the breadth and difference in the ways we relate to our environments—raises a number of questions for spatial designers. How do different sensory modes enhance our understanding of the world? What approaches can designers use to engage with these diverse experiences, and how can this lead to more inclusive, higher-quality spatial environments?

Revisit this panel discussion from a diverse group of Monash University researchers and designers, including MADA’s Dr Chris Cottrell; architect—and principal of empathic-experimental practice BLOXAS—Anthony Clarke; and Dr Beth Johnson, who leads Monash’s Autism/ADHD Genetics and Neurodevelopment (MAGNET) project.

This event is supported by RACV.

Light is a crucial part of how we experience our surroundings, and lighting design brings this element into our homes, cities and shared spaces in particular ways. At its best, it can help us feel safe, empowered, convivial or enchanted; at its worst, it can engender unease or discomfort. But how can we better understand the ways in which light configures our worlds? And what do lighting designers, metropolitan authorities and city dwellers need to know about light and lighting to support our shared urban futures?

Revisit this discussion with moderator and researcher/author Shanti Sumartojo; Danish light-culture expert Mikkel Bille; illumination-focused cultural geographer Tim Edensor, and Sarah Pink, founding director of Monash University’s Emerging Technologies Lab.

This event is supported by RACV.

Guerrilla gardening. Housing equality activism. Mural art. Revisit this panel discussion exploring the various forms of subtle urban subversion being performed by young people in and around Melbourne.

This event was facilitated by Rachel Iampolski, Phd candidate at RMIT with research into intangible cultural heritage in urban spaces, and University of Melbourne design anthropology student Zane Pinyon. It is part of our youth expressions of interest, engaging collaborators aged 15–25.

This event is supported by RACV.

Photo by Nathan Iampolski.

Look back at this Q&A after the screening of Set the Tone: an online talk show conceived by Adier Maluk, Angeth Malual, Adior Deng and Yar Biar, young Australian women of South Sudanese descent driven to create a platform that speaks to them and their peers. The show is about shifting up the conversation, opening up points of view and challenging the status quo, creating a platform for young women from the African diaspora to deep dive into the issues that matter to them and challenge assumptions from both within and outside their communities.

This talk was supported by RACV.

Has technology caused us to lose the art of connection? Is loneliness a modern pandemic? If so, how do we cure it? How can we better reconnect?

LIsten back to this very special Night of Better Conversation hosted by the much-loved School of Life, with friendly discussion about making friends and building relationships, and an exploration of the current state of connection. How can our failures make us more interesting, and our vulnerabilities more appealing? How do we overcome shyness and connect with people with whom we seem to have nothing in common?

This talk was a part of December 2019—Connection: Instruments of Harmonious Living, supported by RACV.

Dive into this thought provoking podcast hosted by artist Eugenia Lim with leading thinkers and advocates from across the fields of labour and industrial relations, gig workers’ rights and the arts. This panel explores working in the digital age, and the impact of the gig economy on our relationships, rights, creativity and bodies. Speakers include Sarah Kaine, Associate Professor, School of Business, UTS; artist and performance maker Roshelle Fong; and former Foodora worker Josh Klooger.

Revisit this 2-part discussion of how Melbourne is providing more open space for its growing population from micro and macro levels: first a case study of the newly opened Prahran Square, a $62M development undertaken by the City of Stonnington to transform a run-down car park into public open space, followed by a broader look at how Melbourne property leaders are incorporating open spaces into their developments and how it’s shaping our society.

This event was presented by AECOM.

Listen back to this talk, as guests Sui Zhen (Becky Freeman), Alicia Sometimes and Paul Gorrie address the theme Connection: Instruments of Harmonious Living—What does it mean to be human in connection with other humans and in connection with the universe?