South Australians have long used their hands, hearts, and minds to make things both practical and beautiful. In this Talking History, we meet some sensational South Australian artists and artisans who practice ‘hands-on history’ by running a shuttle through a loom, transforming liquid metal, or simply sharing stories of visionaries.
Date: 12 August 2025
Time: 5:30pm to 8:00pm
Address: Hetzel Lecture Theatre, State Library of South Australia
cnr North Tce and Kintore Ave, ADELAIDE SA 5000
Tickets
Presented in partnership with the State Library of South Australia
This Talking History event is part of the 2025 SALA Festival.
Image:
Emerita Professor Fay Gale AO. 1932 – 2008, University of Adelaide 2025
Sculptor: Meliesa Judge, Liquid Metal Studios
Photo: Kate Paneros
Speakers
Alison Giles has a Bachelor of Arts in Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies, a Post Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education specialising in Aboriginal Studies and English. Alison worked in the Catholic education sector as an Aboriginal specialist teacher for twenty years before returning to study and receiving her Masters in Curatorial and Museum studies here at the University of Adelaide in 2022. She is now in the second year of her PhD candidature.
Alison has also been a life-long craftsperson. For the past eight years she has been working with a Sydney-based master weaver. These two aspects of Alison’s life, her Aboriginal Studies and craft, come together in her PhD research topic which explores the impact of missionaries on the traditional crafts of Aboriginal women in remote Australia between 1920 and 1960.
PHD title: Woven Stories: Missionary influences on First Nation women’s craft practices 1920-1960
Dr Louise Bird is the Principal Heritage Assessment Officer at Heritage South Australia, Department for Environment and Water, where she leads a team comprising historians and a palaeontologist. She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at UniSA Creative. Louise is a historian with twenty-five years’ experience researching and writing about South Australian history, with a particular focus on architecture, designed landscapes and the built environment.
Meliesa Judge is a figurative sculptor and a bronze worker. Working at life scale in the public arena, her sculpture is galvanised by social justice issues. Strong female leaders from history animate her work. The sculptures are anchored in the ethereal beauty of the human form, the nuance of faces, the subtlety of movement and posture. Meliesa uses the human figure as a tool of communication for complex ideas and narratives.
Her first life sized figure was Mary Ward for the eight Loreto schools in Australia. 400 years ago Mary was a lone feminist voice in the Catholic church. She was excommunicated for her belief that if you educate women you will change the world. Subsequent life sized sculptures include Catherine McAuley and St Elizabeth Seton amongst others.
The sculpture of Professor Fay Gale for the University of Adelaide was unveiled for IWD 2025. It is the first sculpture of a woman in the University’s 150 years. Fay was a powerful advocate for First Nations rights and for gender equality. Meliesa shares her life and her studio with sculptor Will Kuiper.