3 Sep 2022 (Sat)
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2pm – 5.10pm |
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ArtScience Cinema, Level 4 |
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Ticketed Admission: S$10 |
Organised as the opening event of MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing, Conversations: Headspace brings together researchers, artists and curators of the exhibition to discuss a range of perspectives on mental health and wellbeing through their practices, advocacy work and lived experiences.
Speakers include Dr Ryan Jefferies (Director of Science Gallery Melbourne), Tilly Boleyn (Head of Curatorial at Science Gallery Melbourne), Titus Yim (Co-Founder of MENTAL Health Collective), Divaagar (artist), Nina Rajcic (artist, researcher and developer), Rachel Hanlon (artist) and Dr Emma Burrows (Head of Translational Behaviour Laboratory at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health).
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
| 2.00pm – 2.05pm | Welcome by Adrian George (Director, Programmes, Exhibitions & Museum Services at ArtScience Museum) |
| 2.05pm – 2.10pm | Introduction to MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing by Charleen Leo (Curator, Exhibitions and Production at ArtScience Museum) |
Panel 1 explores the making of the exhibition, co-creation with youths, the lived experience and shifting perspectives on mental wellness.
| 2.10pm – 2.35pm | Tilly Boleyn (Head of Curatorial at Science Gallery Melbourne) and Dr Ryan Jefferies (Director of Science Gallery Melbourne) on the making of MENTAL as the debut exhibition at Science Gallery Melbourne, and folding young people, artists, research collaborators and experts into collaborations that formed the heart of the exhibition. |
| 2.35pm – 2.55pm | Titus Yim (Co-Founder of MENTAL Health Collective) on the co-creation of companion resources for MENTAL with ArtScience Museum, and what allyship in youth mental wellbeing can look like through the work of Mental Health Collective as a youth-for-youth initiative. |
| 2.55pm – 3.15pm | Divaagar (artist) on his commissioned artwork Model: Kitchen for the iteration of MENTAL at ArtScience Museum, looking at gestures which capture the daily motions of care in the household. |
| 3.15pm – 3.35pm | Panel Q&A with Tilly Boleyn, Charleen Leo, Titus Yim, and Divaagar, moderated by Zhang Bao Xin (Curator, Public Programmes at ArtScience Museum) |
| 3.35pm – 3.50pm | Break |
Panel 2 explores what it means to be human through the lens of art meets science and technology.
| 3.50pm – 4.10pm | Nina Rajcic (artist, researcher and developer) on her interactive installation Mirror Ritual which provides prompts that allow viewers to be introspective about their emotions, and challenges existing paradigms in our understanding of human emotion and machine perception. |
| 4.10pm – 4.30pm | Rachel Hanlon (artist and researcher) on Hello Machine as part of her research on the interplay between people and things, and how telecommunications as a technology has had a long history of allowing people to develop a connection and level of intimacy with others. |
| 4.30pm – 4.50pm | Dr Emma Burrows (Head of Translational Behaviour Laboratory at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health) on her collaboration with artist Hiromi Tango on Wheel and insights into their collaborative projects from a neuroscience perspective. |
| 4.50pm – 5.10pm | Panel Q&A with Nina Rajcic, Rachel Hanlon and Dr Emma Burrows, moderated by Zhang Bao Xin. |
MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing offers different perspectives on mental health and wellbeing. It confronts societal bias and stereotypes, encouraging curiosity and connection with ourselves and others.
Director, Science Gallery Melbourne and Associate Director, Science and Academic Engagement at the Department of Museums and Collections, University of Melbourne
Dr Ryan Jefferies is a passionate advocate of the blurred intersections between science and arts, and promoting social change through the sharing of knowledge and creativity. His career transects science research, education and museums and galleries, and completed a PhD in biomedical science at Murdoch University and postdoctoral research fellowships at The University of Western Australia and University of Bristol. He has worked with the Western Australian Museum, Museums Victoria and the HBA Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, and has curated major interdisciplinary exhibitions, festivals and residencies.
Head of Curatorial, Science Gallery Melbourne
Tilly Boleyn is a massive nerd who is curious about the world and everything in it. She has a background in museums, galleries, education, festivals, broadcasting and research. Originally a microbiologist, Tilly has curated exhibitions on health, medicine, experimentation, the moon, play, the voice, engineering, waste and sustainability. She is currently delighted by blurring the boundaries between science, art, design, technology, maths, engineering, large-scale-batteries-powered-by-human-urine and doing things she is told aren't allowed.
Co-Founder of Mental Health Collective
Titus Yim is one of the five co-founders of Mental Health Collective, a youth-for-youth ground-up initiative which aims to empower youths to contribute to the mental health scene while sparking more inter-stakeholder conversations on mental health and well-being. Since 2018, Mental Health Collective has worked with over 15 partners in organising a Mental Health Conference to bring together stakeholders to take a collective stance towards improving the mental well-being of youths, as well as online and physical exhibitions exploring real life experiences of mental distress and psychological recovery.
Artist
Divaagar (b.1992, Singapore) is a visual artist who works through installation, performance, and digital media. His practice examines narratives; toying with attachments and proposing new models through the lenses of bodies, identities and environments. Divaagar graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1st Class Honours) in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2018 and has exhibited both locally and internationally since 2010. He has had two solo presentations; Between a rock and a hard place, as part of a summer residency in Untitled Space (Shanghai) and The Soul Lounge at soft/WALL/studs (Singapore). Other notable exhibitions include Time Passes at Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), State of Motion 2021: [Alternate / Opt] Realities at Marina One (Singapore), and Space Oddities at The Substation (Singapore).
Artist, researcher and developer
Nina Rajcic is an artist, researcher and developer with a background in particle physics, as well as industry experience in data science and engineering. She is currently undertaking her PhD at Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology (IT) under the supervision of Professor Jon McCormack and Dr Vince Dziekan. Her research looks into the machine understanding of human emotion, and how affective information can foster real-time creative collaboration between human and machine. Nina holds a Bachelors of Science and a Masters of Physics (Theoretical Particle Physics) from The University of Melbourne.
Artist and researcher
Rachel Hanlon is an artist and researcher working within the frame of media archeology. Her works make available many layered metaphors and meanings through reinterpretations of the now obsolete technologies that are heightened by our cultural reliance on them as a part of the narrative of our times. Her interest in pop-culture, film, music and autobiographies add layers of depth to references in her works that use media appropriation as central themes.
Head of Translational Behaviour Laboratory at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Dr Emma Burrows is a neuroscientist exploring how environments can impact on our mental health and memory. Emma’s team study mice living in playful and positive environments. Her team explore how these positive environments impact on a mouse’s motivation, mood, brain growth and ability to learn and pay attention. It is her hope that understanding some of the complex drivers of motivation and the way we interact with our world will pave the way for healthier and happier ways of living. Emma and her collaborator Hiromi Tango, Australia-Japanese artist, have drawn from their continuous fascination with what makes us healthy and happy to create participatory, part-living lab, part installation pieces. Emma hopes their work together makes science accessible, challenges the way people think about their environment and brings joy.
How are you? You know that it’s okay to feel what you are feeling, right?
Your feelings are unique and personal.
MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing is not an exhibition about mental illness, treatments or cures. It is a welcoming place where you can confront societal bias and stereotypes around mental health. MENTAL invites you to embark on an intimate and personal journey that explores the many different ways of being, surviving and making connections, that have become of increasing importance to us all.
Patricia Piccinini: We are Connected offers visitors a fascinating and emotional journey through an extraordinary universe of beautifully bizarre hybrids and strange new beings. Her hyperrealistic sculptures, in the form of mechanised animals, mutated human beings and unknown and uncanny creatures, celebrate a world filled with wonder and difference.
Be a part of the conversation. Gain insights to a line-up of intriguing topics that showcase the best in arts and science.