Anna Farago

7.9 From Budgeree East to Budapest: Tracing Familial Art, Learning Encounters, and Unexpected Territories (Paper)

Anna Farago – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract:

This paper traces unexpected connections between my childhood growing up on an isolated hilltop in rural Australia and my familial ties to the vibrant arts scene of pre-war Budapest, Hungary. By sharing stories and artworks spanning continents, I explore how learning encounters with place can reveal the importance of art, storytelling, and intergenerational bonds in affirming cultural identity across displacement. I begin on the hill within the mountains of GunaiKurnai Country where I grew up, overlooking a lush creek valley. From there, lineal threads connect to Budapest and beyond, following my father Peter’s journey as a refugee arriving in Melbourne from war-torn Hungary in 1949 with few possessions. His mother Rosa was an actress appearing in Hungary’s first talking film, while his father Desider, a poet and journalist, perished in a WWII labour camp. Despite losses, their stories evoke Budapest’s thriving pre-war arts community that included my charismatic great-uncle Geza Farago, whose art nouveau posters still grace the city’s metro stations. I will share stories of re-connecting with places and artworks, and examples of reflections from my recent students on similar themes. In doing so, I will provide discussion around knowing, doing and making through aesthetic experiences that convey meaning and affect, per Irwin's (2004) conceptualization of a/r/tography as métissage. By tracing culture kept alive through artifacts and storytelling, I demonstrate how art transcends displacement to affirm identity. For me that has been rooted in both the traditional custodianship of my Australian homeland and the lingering presence of my ancestors along the Danube River.

8.9 Walking Lines of Inquiry in Conversation: Five Perspectives on Art Education Futures (Paper)

Anna Farago – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Yvette Walker – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Ana Ward-Davies – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract:

Five graduate researchers from the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, present emergent conversations arising from their a/r/tographic inquiries. As artists, researchers and teachers they walk in conversation, alongside and in between histories and praxis to meet at the intersection of art education’s uncertain and precarious future paths. Using ‘line’ as an opening they wander between and within the lines they draw, play, make, cast and trace. These lines converge and story their aspirations and aims for art education futures.

Through visual examples this presentation shares the methods and practices that support “being open to unexpected directions and unpredictable turns” (Irwin, 2006) and invites contemplation for what transformative possibilities emerge when we; walk with the land; collaborate with communities; support teachers in crises; use tiktok as method and trace the in-betweens. They share the ways they trouble the shifting grounds: Cassie’s experience as a child of Asian refugees in so-called Australia, opens a slippery space in quest/ion/ing race and colonialism. Let’s respect lines as we move forward. Anna considers what facilitators and participants gain from engaging in collaboration with local places and people and troubling social issues together. She crafts lines as a shared pathway forward. Ana’s data tells a story of visual art and design teachers in crisis. These teachers told stories of walking fragile lines, precariously poised. Her line twists. It needs to play. Angie’s TikTok as method affords creative opportunities for researchers to engage with audiences in ways that challenge the separateness of public/private experience. She thinks of this as casting a line. Yvette looks toward current art education methods and movements for innovative research approaches and reparative pedagogies. Her line traces the layers. We walk the slippery, flexible and fragile lines as metaphors for creative inquiry and pedagogical processes. These lines are not just drawn, they are re-drawn and re-imagined together. We think with lines as the marks they make, what they open, what lies between them and how they intersect. Co-authors: Angie Hostetler, Cassandra Truong; Supervision: Kathryn Coleman – University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education, Australia

10.47 Crafting a Manifesto for Climate Education Through Art: Engaging Unexpected Territories (Workshop)

Anna Farago – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Yvette Walker – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Sarah Healy – SWISP Lab, Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract:

This 90-minute workshop is a collaborative initiative by SWISP Lab in partnership with Science Gallery International, and in conversation with Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action (ECCA). We invite art educators and researchers to collaboratively create a manifesto for climate education through art, intended for COP30. Aligned with the InSEA Congress themes of “Unexpected Territories,” “Shifting Grounds,” and “Permanence,” the workshop aims to position art education as critical to climate education.

We begin by examining why, despite decades of IPCC warnings, climate education remains absent from many curricula. Drawing on data from The University of Melbourne SWISP Lab’s youth-centred research, we will discuss art educators’ ethical responsibility to address intergenerational environmental crises and empower students to navigate social and ecological challenges. We will then explore the concept of the Anthropocene as a framework to understand humanity’s impact on the planet’s ecosystems. Although the term remains debated, the Anthropocene offers a compelling perspective to reimagine education as a pathway to build ecological awareness and resilience. Drawing inspiration from SWISP Lab’s “Hacking the Anthropocene” project, participants will examine “tipping points” – key moments that spark critical ecological insight and understanding.

The workshop culminates in the creation of a draft manifesto through Surrealist-inspired methods, including automatic writing and the Exquisite Corpse technique. This process allows participants to generate bold, collective statements on the transformative role of art in climate education. The resulting manifesto will reflect diverse perspectives and provide actionable principles for integrating climate literacy into art education. Outcomes: • A draft manifesto for climate education through art, to be further refined and presented at COP30. • Creative methodologies for engaging art educators in climate discourse. This workshop advances scholarly dialogue on art education’s role in cultivating ecological consciousness and capacity to act.