Research Team

Maria Teresa Tavares is a cultural producer from Brazil. Over the past ten years, she has worked with commercial art galleries and non-profit organisations. Most of her career was developed as a part of Videobrasil’s team, Sao Paulo, where she worked for two editions of the Videobrasil Festival and two exhibitions of artists such as Sophie Calle and Isaac Julien. She holds an MA in Communication and Semiotics from PUC SP, Brazil and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts and Cultural Management at the Melbourne University. 

Kirstin Clements is a graduate researcher in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in ‘Screen and Cultural Studies’ and ‘Politics and International Studies’ also from the University of Melbourne and anticipates graduation from her current Master of Arts and Cultural Studies in December 2018. Alongside her studies, she is has been engaged in various professional capacities with organisations such as the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, the Melbourne Fringe Festival, No Vacancy Gallery and the Berlin International Film Festival. More generally, she pursues a keen interest in emerging and innovative mediums and interdisciplinary forms of storytelling, as well as international, cross-cultural interactions and developments in policy-making and cultural trends.

Hugh Hirst-Johnson is in his final semester of the Masters of Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne. Throughout his academic work his main interest has always been in contemporary art. He is pursuing his career focusing on curatorial work in the field of new media and digital art, which often employs the use of the moving image in its formal elements. He is currently working at the Centre for Contemporary Photography assisting with administrative, installation and front-of-house tasks. He is also works closely with freelance curators in various capacities, including authoring catalogue essays or assisting with installations.

Jin Yu was born in 1993 in Shanghai, China. She is a graduate of the MA Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Melbourne with emerging professional experience in the field of visual art and museums. Jin has been studying cultural management for over five years and is pursuing her career as young professional focusing on communication, marketing and fundraising in the arts. She is interning at the Melbourne University Archives and Melbourne Writers Festival.

Jean Hair is a graduate student majoring in arts and cultural management at the University of Melbourne under the National Arts Council (Singapore) postgraduate scholarship. Prior to her postgraduate studies, Jean was a arts programmer with the National Gallery Singapore, Asian Film Archive, and the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay since 2006. Her research interests include audience development, urban placemaking, social enterprises, and measuring social impact in the arts. 

Eliza Jane Coyle holds a Bachelor degree with Honours in Art History and Theory and is in the process of completing a Masters degree in Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne.

Eliza works in public programming at Yarra Libraries and is passionate about arts and communities. She strives to develop innovative formats that have a strong participation aspect and challenge how we see each other and the world around us.

Larissa is a graduate student at the University of Melbourne majoring in Arts and Cultural Management. Her previous art practice has accumulated her passion for the arts, while her past teaching experience has helped developed her management and people skills. During her graduate study, she has been actively involved in the industry through volunteering in all sorts of arts venues and events including Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Fringe, Mapping Melbourne, Midsumma Festival, and Next Wave.

Phoebe Di Wang is currently a graduate student in the major of Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne. The main areas of her academic and professional training are museum studies. She has internship and volunteer experiences in the creative industry both in Melbourne and China, by engaging with different art institutions and organizations such as the Grainger Museum, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Snuff Puppets theatre company, and Nancy’s Gallery. With a profound interest in the research field about the cultural diversity and cross-cultural communications, she was one of the initiators of the publication project: International: Melbourne about international students’ lives in Melbourne. She is pursuing a professional future concerning audience engagement, exhibition management, and museum administration.

Maggie Thawley is currently  completing a Graduate Diploma in Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne. In her Bachelor of Arts she majored in Creative Writing while also completing her Diploma in Music for classical voice. She also minored in Ancient World Studies where she pursued her interest in stories of ancient cultures. Maggie has experience writing across a broad range of genres and styles such as biography and poetry, and is keen to expand her writing skills. She has been studying writing and editing for five years and is interested in a career in the publishing industry and is especially concerned with transmedia and how digital factors have affected the book marketing landscape.

Kun Liu is a graduate student of Art Curatorship at the University of Melbourne. As an art student, she has been studying painting for more than ten years. She studied new media and contemporary art at Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts and graduated in 2015. Following this, she has worked for China Media Lab as a graphic designer, her job is responsible for media operation and graphic design. She has participated in various projects, including the premiere of a film named Crosscurrent and the promotion activities of film named Shadow Agency.

Born in Guangdong, China, Kehui currently is a graduate of the MA Arts and Cultural Management Program at the University of Melbourne. She has been working and volunteering in different arts organizations across visual art and theatre, which is essential to building up her skills and knowledge in audience development as well as program management. Lin is passionate about exploring the political and economic issues affecting the local art sector and wish to be an art researcher in the future. 

Research Task:

Storytelling --International Tours

Kehui is focusing on tracing stories beyond the quantitative data of ACMI international blockbusters. 

James Cameron, Research Intern

James is a Master of Arts and Cultural Management student at the University of Melbourne. In addition to his studies, he is currently a producer for the Melbourne Shakespeare Company, the Producer for the University of Melbourne Law Revue and volunteer staff with the MIFF Industry 37 South Market.
He holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Melbourne, with a double major in politics and international studies, and history. He has written academically and creatively; writing a number of short plays and films, as well as directing for stage and screen. He has past experience with the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Vision Australia Radio, MIFF and Odeon Cinemas.

Elle Liu holds a Bachelor degree in Film Studies with a major in Scriptwriting from the Communication University of China, Beijing. She is currently studying in the Masters of Global Media Communication at the School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne. Her research interests include screen cultures, digital communications, media convergence, journalism practice and cinema studies. Recently, her research has focused on using close textual readings to analyze gender and sexual identities in contemporary queer representations. Prior to her postgraduate studies, Elle Liu was a freelance screenwriter with a primary focus on adolescence, fan subcultures, and cultural translation. She has worked in various media corporations including China Central Television and had artistic practice in the area of Film and Television Production as script coordinator, journalist, and editor.

Born in Anhui, China, Yerong is currently studying in the Master of Marketing Communication at the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. She holds a bachelor’s degree of Information Management and Information System from the Nanjing Forestry University. She has been working and volunteering in different exhibitions across visual arts and food industry, which is essential to build up her skills and knowledge in audience development as well as process management. She also has communication experiences in working in an international company for 6 months. Besides, she is passionate about exploring the exhibition object list and summarizing all the ACMI collections. Her research task is focus on tracking the development of institutional brand recognition across the world. She wishes to be a data analysis expert in the future.

Vivien is currently completing a Masters of Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Melbourne. She has also previously completed a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Screen and Cultural Studies at the university. In this degree she studied film theory, with a focus on the relationship between film and gender theory. Her interests are primarily in film and cinema studies, particularly in the areas of film distribution and exhibition, and how these fields affect audience engagement. She is particularly interested in exploring how audience’s experiences are affected by changing formats of film exhibition and consumption. Vivien has been involved as a volunteer at several film festivals and cultural events in Melbourne such as, the Czech and Slovak Film Festival, MonsterFest, and the Japanese Film Festival.

Jinhan Fan is currently completing a Masters of Marketing and Communication at the University of Melbourne. She has also previously completed a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Media and Communication at Monash University. The studies have equipped her with a strong knowledge of marketing and media. She has been always had an interest in strategic branding and digital marketing, previously she worked as an intern at a global advertising company to assist the IBM account team with campaign strategies and pitches. Currently, Jinhan has been volunteering as a social media coordinator at Moral FairGround to promote Australia's biggest ethical lifestyle festival at Federation Square. For this research, she is focusing on mapping the hosting countries. She is particularly interested in expanding knowledge of digital visualization and hone skills in data analysis.