A musician and a writer have been awarded 2024 Forrest Research Foundation Creative and Performance Leadership Fellowships.
After working in England and Berlin oboist Dr Niamh Dell will return to The University of Western Australia, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Music.
Based at the Conservatorium of Music, Dr Dell will research and perform with young Australian composers and performers who face challenges due to limited resources, the transactional nature of musical collaborations and a need to reflect musical expressions that mimic 20th-century European norms.
Image: Oboist Dr Niamh Dell.
She will work to disrupt this trend by developing collaborations that explore sounds and performance paradigms rooted in WA’s musical identity. The collaborations will provide musicians with access to unique instrumental expertise and connections to the international contemporary music scene.
Writer, poet and published author Dr Madison Godfrey will continue their work at the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University.
Dr Godfrey will delve into contemporary feminist themes within the verse-novel format, focusing on gender, power and literary conventions. The work will focus on flawed and even murderous female protagonists and their portrayal within traditional crime fiction.
Dr Godfrey’s research and practice will aim to revitalise verse while contributing to feminist discourse and literary tradition, forging new understandings of the genre as a platform for feminist expression.
Image: Writer, poet and published author Dr Madison Godfrey. Picture: Loiuse Coghill
The Fellowships were established to encourage arts and humanities professionals to pursue further study in their areas of interest.
Director of the Forrest Research Foundation Professor James Arvanitakis said the Fellowships program continued to attract new talent to Perth to join a vibrant arts sector.
“From Margaret River’s Bunuru Festival to Perth Festival, Sculpture by the Sea and Fringe Festival, Western Australia continues to establish itself as an imaginative, creative, innovative community that mobilises the arts to generate high impact outcomes with the goal of bringing positive social, cultural and health benefits to the wider community,” Professor Arvanitakis said.
“Ultimately, our new Creative and Performing Fellows will enhance the quality and reputation of the Western Australian performing arts sector and continue to contribute to the Foundation’s mission of establishing the State as a global research, knowledge and creative hub.