Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
1306th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture of the Royal Society of NSW — 7 September 2022
“Is Fairweather an Australian artist? And does it matter?”
Associate Professor Clare Roberts FAHA, University of Melbourne
in conversation with
Emeritus Professor Nicholas Jose, University of Adelaide
https://royalsoc.org.au/blog/1306th-ogm-and-open-lecture
Timing Marks:
00:00:00 Introduction to the Speaker: Dr Susan Pond AM FRSN FTSE FAHMS, President, Royal Society of NSW
00:03:18 Presentation: Associate Professor Claire Roberts in conversation with Emeritus Professor Nicolas Jose
00:48:50 Q&A Session: moderated by Emeritus Professor Christina Slade FRSN
01:10:09 Vote of Thanks: Ms Judith Wheeldon AM FRSN, Vice-President, Royal Society of NSW
01:16:56 Close of Meeting
Summary: After a life of wandering, including extended periods living in China, Bali and the Philippines, the Scottish-born artist Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) settled on Bribie Island off the coast of Queensland. Working in a self-made house constructed from bush materials Fairweather created works that prompted a leading Sydney critic to name him ‘our greatest painter’. In her new book Fairweather and China (2021) Claire Roberts seeks to reposition Fairweather as a key transcultural figure, connecting British, European, Chinese and Australian art histories.
About the Presenters:
Claire Roberts is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary Chinese art and cultural flows between Australia and Asia. She is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Melbourne and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Claire received her PhD from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University (2006). Her most recent books are Fairweather and China (2021); Ian Fairweather: A Life in Letters (edited with John Thompson, 2019) Photography and China (2013) and Friendship in Art: Fou Lei and Huang Binhong (2010).
Nicholas Jose has published novels, short stories, essays and non-fiction and was general editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. He recently co-edited Antipodean China: Reflections on Literary Exchange (2021) and Everything Changes: Australian Writers and China—A transcultural anthology (2020). He was Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy Beijing, 1987-1990 and Harvard Chair of Australian Studies, 2009-10. He is currently Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Adelaide and Adjunct Professor, Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University.
1306th Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture of the Royal Society of NSW — 7 September 2022
“Is Fairweather an Australian artist? And does it matter?”
Associate Professor Clare Roberts FAHA, University of Melbourne
in conversation with
Emeritus Professor Nicholas Jose, University of Adelaide
https://royalsoc.org.au/blog/1306th-ogm-and-open-lecture
Timing Marks:
00:00:00 Introduction to the Speaker: Dr Susan Pond AM FRSN FTSE FAHMS, President, Royal Society of NSW
00:03:18 Presentation: Associate Professor Claire Roberts in conversation with Emeritus Professor Nicolas Jose
00:48:50 Q&A Session: moderated by Emeritus Professor Christina Slade FRSN
01:10:09 Vote of Thanks: Ms Judith Wheeldon AM FRSN, Vice-President, Royal Society of NSW
01:16:56 Close of Meeting
Summary: After a life of wandering, including extended periods living in China, Bali and the Philippines, the Scottish-born artist Ian Fairweather (1891-1974) settled on Bribie Island off the coast of Queensland. Working in a self-made house constructed from bush materials Fairweather created works that prompted a leading Sydney critic to name him ‘our greatest painter’. In her new book Fairweather and China (2021) Claire Roberts seeks to reposition Fairweather as a key transcultural figure, connecting British, European, Chinese and Australian art histories.
About the Presenters:
Claire Roberts is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary Chinese art and cultural flows between Australia and Asia. She is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Melbourne and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Claire received her PhD from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University (2006). Her most recent books are Fairweather and China (2021); Ian Fairweather: A Life in Letters (edited with John Thompson, 2019) Photography and China (2013) and Friendship in Art: Fou Lei and Huang Binhong (2010).
Nicholas Jose has published novels, short stories, essays and non-fiction and was general editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. He recently co-edited Antipodean China: Reflections on Literary Exchange (2021) and Everything Changes: Australian Writers and China—A transcultural anthology (2020). He was Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy Beijing, 1987-1990 and Harvard Chair of Australian Studies, 2009-10. He is currently Emeritus Professor of English and Creative Writing at The University of Adelaide and Adjunct Professor, Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University.
