Mittwoch, 11.10.2017 History of Germans in Qld

History of Germans in Queensland

Discover the fascinating story of Brisbane’s German roots. Two remarkable historians will unveil facts about German influences on Queensland life, with a focus on tradition, the arts and design. Did you know that the Brisbane Greeters (see link below) have established ‘Brisbane’s German Story’ in their own little October tour? It will be offered for the second time this year and every day of the month, along with its German highlights! Check their website for when the new tour is live!

Folklorist and Historian Mark Schuster (www.germanydownunder.com) has spent half-a-lifetime travelling throughout southern Queensland recording, documenting and also performing the unique traditions of the once extensive German-Queensland farming communities. The presentation will focus on the settlement patterns, traditions, culture and stories of the communities. As well as illustrating the wealth of traditions unearthed, Mark will provide a fascinating insight into his adventures in the quest for these traditions – some of which are still very ‘German’, but many of which have transformed into very unique ‘German-Queensland’ traditions. He will take you along on his journey into a kulturescape, which is fast disappearing in Queensland. Andrew McNamara is an Art Historian and Visual Arts Professor at QUT’s Creative Industries. His work describes the significant number of central European and German refugees and émigrés that sought refuge from war and fascism in Australia during the inter-war and post-World War Two years. These refugees and émigrés had an impact across a number of fields (science, engineering, philosophy). Nowhere was this impact more remarkable than in art and design. They were particularly active in arts education in which they introduced a modernist approach that was cross-disciplinary and systematic. While there have been a few individual studies of this generation, this talk is part of a much larger research project that aims to link these individual histories into one coherent study. The talk will highlight a select number of case studies in order to explain the common aspirations of this generation of refugees and émigrés: their commitment to reform education as well as to cross-cultural studies; their experiments in colour and light; an emphasis on the core elements of art, design and architecture; and, finally, their reformist social vision.