Alex Burchmore
@alexburchmore.bsky.social
Lecturer in Art History and Curatorial Studies, Australian National University; author of New Export China (University of California Press, 2023) and Material Selves (Bloomsbury, 2024); scholar of things and people in motion
Pinned
Author copies of Material Selves have just arrived and they look so good!😍
You can pick up a copy of your own now at www.bloomsbury.com/au/material-...
Or, alternatively, at one of the stockists listed on my website: alexburchmore.com/material-sel...
Keep reading for more info on what's inside 👇🏽🧵
You can pick up a copy of your own now at www.bloomsbury.com/au/material-...
Or, alternatively, at one of the stockists listed on my website: alexburchmore.com/material-sel...
Keep reading for more info on what's inside 👇🏽🧵
My latest review for the @sydmorningherald.bsky.social! A reflection on my experience of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's mesmerising new cinematic installation for the Museum of Contemporary Art, "A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage)", on display now until 15 February 2026 👇🏼
Mesmerising and beguiling, this MCA installation is an escape
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s immersive video diary weaves together intimate moments of everyday life.
www.smh.com.au
October 31, 2025 at 9:19 PM
My latest review for the @sydmorningherald.bsky.social! A reflection on my experience of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's mesmerising new cinematic installation for the Museum of Contemporary Art, "A Conversation with the Sun (Afterimage)", on display now until 15 February 2026 👇🏼
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Welcome to Bluesky @phrc-dmu.bsky.social! Hard recommend for 📷📸🗃️ folks - with a great autumn line-up of free, online research seminars this autumn. The link has information on how to book, as well as how to get in touch to offer a talk in future editions.
We're also happy to announce the Research Seminars in Photographic Cultures and Heritage, which start on 30 October, 5.30 pm with none other than Martha Langford! The seminars are all free and online, and you can register here: photographichistory.wordpress.com/2025/10/05/r... #photohist
Research Seminars in Photographic Cultures and Heritage – Semester One 2025/26
PHRC is pleased to announce the launch of Research Seminars in Photographic Cultures and Heritage, a new, free, online series of talks and discussions exploring photography’s intersections with pol…
photographichistory.wordpress.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Welcome to Bluesky @phrc-dmu.bsky.social! Hard recommend for 📷📸🗃️ folks - with a great autumn line-up of free, online research seminars this autumn. The link has information on how to book, as well as how to get in touch to offer a talk in future editions.
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
So excited to finally have hold of the book!
October 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
So excited to finally have hold of the book!
Happy 15th anniversary to the love of MY life, too, @blairwilliams26.bsky.social 🥰
The promotion is definitely a bonus - perfect timing! 😊
The promotion is definitely a bonus - perfect timing! 😊
Happy 15th anniversary to the love of my life, @alexburchmore.bsky.social! 🤩
And congratulations on the promotion to Senior Lecturer, which we found out about this afternoon 🎉🎉🎉
And congratulations on the promotion to Senior Lecturer, which we found out about this afternoon 🎉🎉🎉
October 21, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Happy 15th anniversary to the love of MY life, too, @blairwilliams26.bsky.social 🥰
The promotion is definitely a bonus - perfect timing! 😊
The promotion is definitely a bonus - perfect timing! 😊
Really excited to meet and work with our incoming Sir William Dobell Chair and Fellows in Art History at the ANU for 2026! 🎉
An incredible group of scholars with some fascinating and timely research planned for their stay
#academicsky #arthistory #art
An incredible group of scholars with some fascinating and timely research planned for their stay
#academicsky #arthistory #art
Sir William Dobell Chair and Fellows for 2026 announced | School of Art & Design
soad.cass.anu.edu.au
October 20, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Really excited to meet and work with our incoming Sir William Dobell Chair and Fellows in Art History at the ANU for 2026! 🎉
An incredible group of scholars with some fascinating and timely research planned for their stay
#academicsky #arthistory #art
An incredible group of scholars with some fascinating and timely research planned for their stay
#academicsky #arthistory #art
An excerpt from feedback offered by #Reviewer2 on the latest article draft: "The writing is very polished, but if anything, perhaps too polished in parts, where the lyrical risks eclipsing the historical or scholarly"
So, historical/scholarly writing can't be lyrical and polished? 🙃
#academicsky
So, historical/scholarly writing can't be lyrical and polished? 🙃
#academicsky
October 19, 2025 at 2:29 AM
An excerpt from feedback offered by #Reviewer2 on the latest article draft: "The writing is very polished, but if anything, perhaps too polished in parts, where the lyrical risks eclipsing the historical or scholarly"
So, historical/scholarly writing can't be lyrical and polished? 🙃
#academicsky
So, historical/scholarly writing can't be lyrical and polished? 🙃
#academicsky
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Very cool books with very cool covers bombardment because we all need a little beauty and brilliance, surely
October 7, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Very cool books with very cool covers bombardment because we all need a little beauty and brilliance, surely
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
The "Vienna" model or sample book, c. 1410-20. An aid for workshops and travelling artists so that they had a stock of motifs & shapes. Silverpoint drawing on paper, maple wood, leather. Dimensions: 9.5 cm × 9 cm. A small thing. (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)
October 7, 2025 at 8:48 PM
The "Vienna" model or sample book, c. 1410-20. An aid for workshops and travelling artists so that they had a stock of motifs & shapes. Silverpoint drawing on paper, maple wood, leather. Dimensions: 9.5 cm × 9 cm. A small thing. (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Peacehammer 40K: Paintinge litel miniatures of gardeneres, sculptors, academics. Trimminge hedges. Makinge friendes.
October 4, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Peacehammer 40K: Paintinge litel miniatures of gardeneres, sculptors, academics. Trimminge hedges. Makinge friendes.
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
The 13-storey Liuhe Pagoda (Six Harmonies Pagoda) at dusk, c.1925, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, by Charles H Kragh. located at the foot of Yuelun Hill, facing the Qiantang River, originally constructed in 970, but rebuilt a few times since. Interestingly a pagoda that also served as a lighthouse.
October 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The 13-storey Liuhe Pagoda (Six Harmonies Pagoda) at dusk, c.1925, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, by Charles H Kragh. located at the foot of Yuelun Hill, facing the Qiantang River, originally constructed in 970, but rebuilt a few times since. Interestingly a pagoda that also served as a lighthouse.
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Our Lancet viewpoint, 'Bioethics for the Planet', seems ever more timely. Caring for humans and all life forms demands we care also for the planet. Viewable with registration
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#climate #planetaryhealth #globalhealth #STS #ethics
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#climate #planetaryhealth #globalhealth #STS #ethics
October 2, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Our Lancet viewpoint, 'Bioethics for the Planet', seems ever more timely. Caring for humans and all life forms demands we care also for the planet. Viewable with registration
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#climate #planetaryhealth #globalhealth #STS #ethics
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#climate #planetaryhealth #globalhealth #STS #ethics
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
A portfolio or envelope case made of birchbark and dyed porcupine quills by a talented Mi’kmaw artist around c.1910 and featuring the traditional 8-pointed star— I love this object. Relatedly, it‘s Mi’kmaq Treaty Day!
October 1, 2025 at 7:15 PM
A portfolio or envelope case made of birchbark and dyed porcupine quills by a talented Mi’kmaw artist around c.1910 and featuring the traditional 8-pointed star— I love this object. Relatedly, it‘s Mi’kmaq Treaty Day!
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Today is publication day for PAPER AND THE MAKING OF EARLY MODERN LITERATURE! Available in paper or digital form www.pennpress.org/978151282744... @pennpress.bsky.social
September 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Today is publication day for PAPER AND THE MAKING OF EARLY MODERN LITERATURE! Available in paper or digital form www.pennpress.org/978151282744... @pennpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
An amazing headband made of dyed porcupine quills by an Indigenous person in the Great Lakes region around 1760. It is in such remarkable condition because it was kept in a Scottish castle for 250 years.
September 19, 2025 at 8:27 PM
An amazing headband made of dyed porcupine quills by an Indigenous person in the Great Lakes region around 1760. It is in such remarkable condition because it was kept in a Scottish castle for 250 years.
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Sometimes, homely objects from the past are far more evocative than possessions of the powerful rich ~ here, from Egypt 1,400 years ago, this design on a child’s linen tunic, woven with pink, blue & green ducks, flower petals & central animal face collections.mfa.org/objects/70038
September 17, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Sometimes, homely objects from the past are far more evocative than possessions of the powerful rich ~ here, from Egypt 1,400 years ago, this design on a child’s linen tunic, woven with pink, blue & green ducks, flower petals & central animal face collections.mfa.org/objects/70038
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
The NLA has digitized heaps of PNG parliamentary debates, including from the colonial legislative council (1951-63) and house of assembly (64-75). Keyword searchable too. www.library.gov.au/news-media/p...
Papua New Guinea: 50 years of Independence | National Library of Australia (NLA)
Explore parliamentary debates relating to the Independence of Papua New Guinea.
www.library.gov.au
September 17, 2025 at 7:52 AM
The NLA has digitized heaps of PNG parliamentary debates, including from the colonial legislative council (1951-63) and house of assembly (64-75). Keyword searchable too. www.library.gov.au/news-media/p...
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Always like to see an accessible archive, but maintaining it isn't free. How long until a "purely financial decision" to shutter the digital archive too?
Meanjin archive to be ‘made available for free’ | Books+Publishing
Purchase a subscription to view job ads and other premium content on Books+Publishing.
www.booksandpublishing.com.au
September 9, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Always like to see an accessible archive, but maintaining it isn't free. How long until a "purely financial decision" to shutter the digital archive too?
Really looking forward to contributing next Thursday to the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre's Global Encounters Network Seminar Series - online and open to all!
📌 Out of the Melting Pot, into the Garden? Aboriginal-Chinese-Australian Artistic Encounters
🕰️ Thursday 18 September, 6-7pm AEST
📌 Out of the Melting Pot, into the Garden? Aboriginal-Chinese-Australian Artistic Encounters
🕰️ Thursday 18 September, 6-7pm AEST
Alex Burchmore – Out of the Melting Pot, into the Garden? Aboriginal-Chinese-Australian Artistic Encounters
www.monash.edu
September 7, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Really looking forward to contributing next Thursday to the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre's Global Encounters Network Seminar Series - online and open to all!
📌 Out of the Melting Pot, into the Garden? Aboriginal-Chinese-Australian Artistic Encounters
🕰️ Thursday 18 September, 6-7pm AEST
📌 Out of the Melting Pot, into the Garden? Aboriginal-Chinese-Australian Artistic Encounters
🕰️ Thursday 18 September, 6-7pm AEST
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
You can read about our super fun exhibition 'Kerameikos' at Sydney Uni - Chau Chak Wing Museum in the latest Journal of Australian Ceramics. Exhibition extended until 2 Feb 2026! 🏺🏛️📜
search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3...
search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3...
Kerameikos: The potters' quarter
search.informit.org
September 6, 2025 at 8:12 AM
You can read about our super fun exhibition 'Kerameikos' at Sydney Uni - Chau Chak Wing Museum in the latest Journal of Australian Ceramics. Exhibition extended until 2 Feb 2026! 🏺🏛️📜
search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3...
search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3...
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
Best surprise after a long trip back: my article got picked for journal cover!🥳
“Three centuries of Chinese printing in the Netherlands”, in Yearbook for Dutch Book History, 32/2025
“Three centuries of Chinese printing in the Netherlands”, in Yearbook for Dutch Book History, 32/2025
September 6, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Best surprise after a long trip back: my article got picked for journal cover!🥳
“Three centuries of Chinese printing in the Netherlands”, in Yearbook for Dutch Book History, 32/2025
“Three centuries of Chinese printing in the Netherlands”, in Yearbook for Dutch Book History, 32/2025
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
“Literary journals have never been a commercial enterprise, they have been a cultural enterprise ... To talk about the ‘problem’ of Meanjin as being a commercial one is to disavow the purpose of a university.” @sophtree.bsky.social
The ASA is dismayed by the news that literary journal Meanjin will cease publishing this year, with the final issue due to be released in December.
Read more: www.asauthors.org.au/news/asa-dismayed-over-meanjin-closure/
Read more: www.asauthors.org.au/news/asa-dismayed-over-meanjin-closure/
ASA dismayed over Meanjin closure - Australian Society of Authors
The ASA is dismayed by the news that Australia's second-oldest literary journal Meanjin will cease publishing in December 2025.
www.asauthors.org.au
September 5, 2025 at 5:23 AM
“Literary journals have never been a commercial enterprise, they have been a cultural enterprise ... To talk about the ‘problem’ of Meanjin as being a commercial one is to disavow the purpose of a university.” @sophtree.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
A sinuous floral border in the Kelmscott Chaucer, printed in William Morris’s workshop in 1896. One of 13 copies printed on vellum. Given to @theulspeccoll.bsky.social in 1916 by John Charrington (1856-1939), Honorary Keeper of Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum. CUL Sel.1.16.
September 4, 2025 at 3:03 PM
A sinuous floral border in the Kelmscott Chaucer, printed in William Morris’s workshop in 1896. One of 13 copies printed on vellum. Given to @theulspeccoll.bsky.social in 1916 by John Charrington (1856-1939), Honorary Keeper of Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum. CUL Sel.1.16.
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
One of my favorite digital collections is that of the Museum of Royal Worcester. You can explore their ceramics collection and their archive, which holds treasures like these pages from a 1930s pattern book with heavenly designs for Art Deco style floral china: www.museumofroyalworcester.org
September 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
One of my favorite digital collections is that of the Museum of Royal Worcester. You can explore their ceramics collection and their archive, which holds treasures like these pages from a 1930s pattern book with heavenly designs for Art Deco style floral china: www.museumofroyalworcester.org
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
It’s ludicrous and insulting to suggest that the richest university in Australia can’t afford the two part-time wages to run Meanjin.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Exclusive: Australia’s second-oldest literary journal, Meanjin, is being shut down today for "financial" reasons, Crikey can reveal.
Literary journal Meanjin to close after 85 years of publishing
Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.
www.crikey.com.au
September 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
It’s ludicrous and insulting to suggest that the richest university in Australia can’t afford the two part-time wages to run Meanjin.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Reposted by Alex Burchmore
All right, putting it out into the world… if anyone back in Australia has hot tips on a job for a museum studies professor who loves teaching and public programs and has leadership and strategic thinking skills, I’d love to hear them. Holding on here, but longing to be back in Oz.
September 5, 2025 at 12:22 AM
All right, putting it out into the world… if anyone back in Australia has hot tips on a job for a museum studies professor who loves teaching and public programs and has leadership and strategic thinking skills, I’d love to hear them. Holding on here, but longing to be back in Oz.