Join us for investigations into spaces of Canberra with Dr Anni Doyle Wawrzynczak. Recent Artist in Residence, Wawrzynczak has worked as a journalist, jazz singer, actor, in international concept sales, as a documentary producer, arts writer, curator, and as stage manager across contemporary dance, theatre, opera and music. Her peripatetic working life allows for multiple layers of insight into creative practice across diverse communities.

Studying the fertile tensions within Canberra as a national capital space and local polis, this dual status can be seen to dramatically affect the development of a unique contemporary arts practice in the late 1970s. A complex narrative informed by rich archival material and interviews exposes local arts practice as a generative force in Canberra's cultural development. Through her research, Wawrzynczak presents illuminating case study of the launch and development of Bitumen River Gallery/Canberra Canberra Contemporary Art Space from 1978 to 2001.