Knowledge subjectivises us – it makes us who and what we are. It informs our evolving sense of self and our place in the world. One of the most powerful things about art is the multiplicity of knowledge to which it can lead us. The major exhibition and book Shapes of Knowledge – the most extensive survey of its kind in Australia – broaches notions of research, teaching and the laboratory in relation to art practice, referencing contemporary art’s ‘educational turn’ as a point of departure. Responding to its surroundings within Australia’s largest tertiary institution, Shapes of Knowledge surveys eight important socio-pedagogic, knowledge-making art projects from Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa, alongside a series of newly commissioned and historical texts that challenge the conventions of knowledge and reveal how art can be transformed by learning. Shapes of Knowledge is about what we know and how we know – a schema for teaching, learning and art that is open and ongoing.

Curator: Hannah Mathews
Editors: Hannah Mathews and Shelley McSpedden
Design: Stuart Geddes and Ziga Testen
Copyediting and proofreading: Linda Michael