Media Release
29 November 2022
Today the successful recipients of the inaugural State Library of Tasmania Fellowships have been announced.
The Research Fellowship recognises the value of research in providing greater context for Tasmania then and now, by encouraging scholarly enquiry.
The Creative Fellowship invites an artist in any medium, physical, or digital, visual, or aural, to explore the collections and create a new work in response which can be exhibited or performed at the State Library of Tasmania.
Jan Richards AM, Chair of the Tasmanian Library Advisory Board said “I was so impressed by the calibre and creativity of the submissions received, highlighting the collections of Libraries Tasmania in new and innovative ways.”
“The Fellowships aim to establish new relationships with Tasmanian artists, scholars, and creators, leading to greater engagement with our collections and services.”
The Fellowships, worth $10 000 each, attracted a strong field of applicants – with sixty-five applications received.
Dr Richard Tuffin won the Research Fellowship, and Dr Margaret Woodward, the Creative Fellowship.
Dr Richard Tuffin – Research Fellowship
Dr Tuffin is well known to the State Library of Tasmania for his research into convict and post-convict sites and systems.
Dr Tuffin’s proposal aims to expand the existing knowledge of the settlement of Van Diemen’s Land, by using GIS (Geographical Information Systems) to show how probation stations facilitated European expansion.
His research will contribute to the Libraries Tasmania Names Index and enhance the information provided on the locations for all the female convicts and 10 000 male convicts. Dr Tuffin will publish a research paper and give public presentations about this work.
Dr Margaret Woodward – Creative Fellowship
Dr Woodward has held artist residencies across the United States, and in Tasmania. She has exhibited throughout Australia and internationally and is a prolific writer. Her creative works are inspired by archives in libraries and collections around the world.
Dr Woodward’s proposal centres around an 1868 artefact, the ‘Tasman’s Peninsula – Semaphore Code Dictionary’ (CON133/1/1) held in in the Tasmanian Archives collection.
The dictionary is a detailed material and social catalogue of the colony of Van Diemen’s Land. Dr Woodward will revisit this artefact, writing and publishing a contemporary code book for present day Lutruwita/Tasmania, and sewing two sets of 10 semaphore flags as an installation in the State Library of Tasmania both in the north and the south. The 2024 State Library of Tasmania Fellowships will open for applications in September 2024. Keep an eye on the website for updates and more information at State Library of Tasmania and Tasmanian Archives Fellowships – Libraries Tasmania
Libraries Tasmania, Communications and Marketing – 6165 6386