Message from the President
Dear ISFAR friends and colleagues,
This first newsletter for 2026 follows the recent publication of issue 79 of The French Australian Review, which should have reached you by now. Guest-edited by Research Committee co-chairs, Elizabeth Rechniewski and Alexis Bergantz, and containing a selection of papers from ISFAR’s 40th anniversary symposium held in May 2025, this was the final issue of The French Australian Review overseen by Elaine Lewis. Elaine will continue to be responsible for book reviews and Bibliographical Notes, while John West-Sooby takes over as Editor, and Jean Fornasiero joins the editorial team as Associate Editor alongside Jane Gilmour and Pauline Georgelin. We welcome Jean and John to the team and we again thank Elaine for her many years of meticulous work on The French Australian Review. We are delighted to report that Elaine has accepted ISFAR’s invitation to become Life Member, an honour usually bestowed only upon completely stepping down from the committee. An exception to this rule was unanimously supported in recognition of Elaine’s invaluable and immeasurable contributions.
Details of The French Australian Review 79 appear below, followed by Fiona Henderson’s winning ISFAR/Eloquence Art Prize article. The terms of the 2025 competition required the candidates to compare the approach of a French and an Australian artist to the protection of the oceans, in this case Aude Bourgine and Joyce Lubotzky. ISFAR member and Culture Plus Founder and Executive Chair, Marie Chrétien writes about the successful related Culture Plus Film Nights in 2025 on the theme of Save Our Oceans. Details of the 2026 Eloquence Art Prize will be available shortly on the Culture Plus website.
On a sad note, in this issue of the newsletter, we also include an item on the passing of lifelong member and former Treasurer of ISFAR, Tom Rado. Tom’s contributions began as founding member of ISFAR in 1985, ending only in 2012, when he stepped down from the Committee. Tom remained involved with ISFAR’s cultural events and activities, most recently attending our 40th anniversary dinner in May 2025. He will be greatly missed. We also note the recent passing of Emeritus Professor Ken Dutton (University of Newcastle) AM FRSN. Professor Dutton was a long-term member and supporter of ISFAR, contributing several articles to The French Australian Review and its predecessor, Explorations, over the years.
Other items in this issue include activities likely to be of interest to members, including one of the annual highlights on the French-Australian calendar, the Alliance Française French Film Festival, which is now showing around Australia. This year’s program offers the usual diverse array of quality French cinema; we hope you are able to attend a few screenings!
The French Australian Review
For members of ISFAR, issue 79 of The French Australian Review (Australian Summer 2025–2026) will have arrived in your mailbox or inbox in early March. As previously advised, this is the last issue with Elaine Lewis’s name as Co-editor. (As the other Co-editor I have really appreciated working with Elaine and thank her for her friendship and support over many years. JG). John West-Sooby will take over as Editor as of the next issue, with Jean Fornasiero, Jane Gilmour and Pauline Georgelin as Associate Editors.
Issue 79 was guest-edited by Elizabeth Rechniewski and Alexis Bergantz, the co-chairs of the ISFAR Research Committee, as the articles included were developed from papers that were presented at the ISFAR research symposium held in May 2025, entitled Cultures Croisées: French-Australian Cultural Connections Exploring the Dynamics of Intercultural Exchange.
The first article is by Karin Speedy, a researcher who has focused on issues of trans-imperial migration and creolisation. Based on her keynote presentation at the symposium, it explores the lives of two families that migrated from Réunion to New Caledonia and thence to Australia. It is a fascinating story of adaptation, initial denial of origin, and more recent celebration of heritage.
The next three papers address different aspects of cultural influence and exchange between Australia and France, two looking at the visual arts and the other at young adult literature. Alec Bolwell, who won the Colin Nettelbeck 2025 prize for the best research proposal submitted to the Symposium, writes about the influence of Grace Crowley’s years in Paris – in the mid to late 1920s – on the development of modernism in Australian art. Françoise Grauby takes two examples of Young Adult literature, published in France, and examines their portrayal of Aboriginal life and culture in the context of the current debates over the writing about Indigenous material by non-Indigenous writers. Finally, Angela Giovanangeli pursues her interest in Lucien Henry’s art and design work at the end of the nineteenth century where he sought to integrate Australian motifs and themes into his designs. This article focuses on his little-known fictional publication, The War-Atah: Australian Legend, published in 1891. Giovanangeli examines the multiple influences explored in the story – Indigenous culture, the Australian natural environment and the socialist associations of the colour red.
This issue of the review, celebrating ISFAR’s fortieth year, also contains two interesting documents about the history of ISFAR. Wallace Kirsop, in his speech at the dinner to celebrate forty years of ISFAR, writes of the early years of the organisation, when he was one of the co-founders, along with Colin Nettelbeck. He was the first editor of what was called at that time Explorations, the precursor to The French Australian Review. In those early days Kirsop said that he saw Explorations more in the style of a Notes and Queries form of publication. Over the years the journal has changed to take on the more formal requirements of an academic journal but he stated that he was glad that The French Australian Review still leaves space for what he called ‘less policed contributions’. In his view, the ‘amateur and non-professional’ has much of value to contribute to the academic world.
ISFAR was founded in 1985, and in this issue we also acknowledge the earlier initiative of Maurice Blackman and Anne-Marie Nesbit, who set up the ‘The French-Australian Research Centre’, based at the University of New South Wales from 1983 to 1992. They were strongly supported by Professor Jean Chaussivert and the then Dean of the Arts Faculty, Donald Horne. The Centre held various research symposia and built contacts with research colleagues in France as well as Australia, thus playing an important role in the promotion of research into French-Australian relations.
This significant anniversary issue of the journal concludes with a couple of other documents, book reviews and book notes, as well as the Bibliographical Notes, compiled as always by Elaine Lewis.
If you are not a member of ISFAR, we urge you either to go online and purchase a copy of the Journal or, better still, support the organisation by becoming a member, so that you will automatically receive the Journal.
Finally, the Editors acknowledge the outstanding work Lynn Smailes does as desktop publisher. Thank you, Lynn!
News from the Research Committee
With the latest entries, on influential viticulturists Léon Edmond Mazure and Joseph Foureur, uploaded to the French Australian Dictionary of Biography – a Research Committee project – the dictionary now includes fifty short articles on notable personalities. The editors encourage you to review the entries and welcome proposals to write additional ones. Contact elizabeth.rechniewski@sydney.edu.au for a list of previously proposed names, or to make a suggestion of a person for inclusion.
ISFAR and the Eloquence Art Prize
Fiona Henderson, the author of the article published below, is the joint winner of the ISFAR prize awarded in the 2025 Eloquence Art competition. The terms of the competition required the candidates to compare the approach of a French and an Australian artist to the protection of the oceans. An article by Levent Dilsiz, the other winner, was published in the December newsletter, together with a more detailed account of the competition and the prize.
Fiona writes that she was once a lawyer but decided to become a professional artist about fifteen years ago. She has been having much more fun ever since. As part of the fun, she obtained her Bachelor of Fine Art and Master of Fine Art. She is now in the final year of her Doctor of Fine Art at National Art School where she is contemplating the doctrine of posthumanism as a new basis for understanding the genre of still life.
Les Glaneuses: Aude Bourgine and Joyce Lubotzky
In the Anthropocene, every part of our planet displays the effects of human civilization, our climate is warming fast and our planet is suffocating under the weight of plastic artifacts. Both these aspects of the Anthropocene have profound effects on our oceans. Where artists like Turner, Monet and Russell once created art to share the power and beauty of the oceans, today’s visual artists use their art practices to raise awareness of their damaged state.
Joyce Lubotzky and Aude Bourgine both place the ocean during the Anthropocene at the centre of their practice. Aude Bourgine is a French poet and artist living in the river city of Rouen. Since graduating from the Lycée Jeanne d’Arc in 2013, she has exhibited widely around France and overseas. Her sculptures of coral, made primarily from recycled textiles, draw the viewer’s attention to the plight of corals bleaching and dying due to warming oceans. Joyce Lubotzky is an Australian artist living in coastal Sydney. She went to National Art School, Sydney as a mature age student leaving with her Master of Fine Art and has exhibited her work in various Sydney, regional and interstate galleries. As she walks along coastal paths and beaches close to her home, she gleans rubbish that has drifted onto the shoreline, often entangled with seaweed or other detritus and bearing the marks of time at sea. Both artists take a view of the world that embraces the basic tenet of posthumanism: recognising our existence on a planet where all beings, animate and inanimate, are interlinked and interdependent.
Most of the rubbish Lubotzky gleans is made of plastic. Her practice involves taking that rubbish back into her studio and using it to make work that is at once eye-catching and distressing. She aims to remind viewers that we live in an interconnected world where actions without conscience by humans will create damage to the detriment of humanity and all other living and non-living inhabitants of Earth. Her work questions the unrestrained consumerism that leads to so much plastic waste. Recent artwork included plastic detritus arranged to resemble phytoplankton which are necessary for the survival of the ocean and the planet but which are being smothered by conglomerates of plastic floating in the oceans.
Like Lubotzky, Bourgine’s practice is centred around the responsibilities evoked by living in an interconnected world where “nous” (“us”) refers to more than humanity. Using recycled textiles for their textures and pliability, Bourgine creates detailed and beautiful sculptures of coral that vary from being small examples under glass bell jars to monumental coral reefs that can be installed in large museum cases or on beach foreshores. Some are white to reference bleaching and stand out shockingly next to the soft colours of living corals. The corals stand as a symbol for the decline of the whole ocean whose health requires a fully functioning ecosystem.
Both Bourgine and Lubotzky entice and engage their viewer’s attention with visually captivating artwork. Only closer inspection reveals the very serious intent behind their bodies of work. Both artists, one in France and one in Australia, are linked by their common concern for a planet in distress.
Contact Details
Fiona Henderson
Mobile: 0419 636 018
Email: fajhenderson@gmail.com
Website: www.fionahendersonartist.com
News from our members
Marie Chrétien from Culture Plus writes that the Culture Plus Film Nights drew strong audiences across Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in 2025, presenting a compelling program of short documentaries showcasing French and Australian artists and museums working at the intersection of art and science. Under the theme Save Our Oceans, the 2025–2026 edition explored how creative practice can shape awareness and inspire action in response to the climate crisis. From the French-initiated Tara expedition and coral regeneration through lace to Australian underwater museums, community-led restoration and powerful First Nations storytelling, the films highlighted bold, transformative responses to rising seas and pollution. The series continues in Paris (June 2026) and Brisbane (September 2026). Stay connected via Instagram and the Culture Plus website.
The launch of the Special Issue of the Journal of Pacific History (vol 60, no. 4 2025) co-edited by Charlotte Ann Legg and Briony Neilson, Connected Histories of Empire: France, Britain, and the Pacific, will take place online (via Zoom) on Friday 27 March 2026,
6–7.30pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). The Special Issue features original scholarly articles by Elizabeth Rechniewski, Kate Stevens, Nicholas Hoare, W. Matthew Cavert, Isabelle Merle, Charlotte Legg, and Briony Neilson. The editors and several of the contributors will present an overview of the issue and brief introductions to their articles.
All are welcome to join. You can register here .
In 2013 ISFAR published a special hors-série issue of Explorations to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Melbourne French Theatre Inc. MFT was founded in 1977 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027. Plans are well underway for a book to commemorate this anniversary and the 50 years of the unique history of Melbourne French Theatre, with several writers already commissioned to write chapters, but we welcome interest from anyone else keen to be involved in the writing process. Expressions of interest with CV should be sent to Michel Bula at the following email productions@mftinc.org.
MFT has also launched a GoFundMe campaign for the book which can be accessed here for those who would like to contribute. Funds will support the book’s production, including payments to writers.
Vale Tom Rado
Committee members and friends of ISFAR were saddened to learn of the passing of Tom Rado, founding and lifelong member of ISFAR, in December 2025. Tom joined ISFAR at its inception in 1985, representing the French-Australian sector in his role as (then) president of the Australian French Association for Science & Technology (AFAS). He was an Executive Committee member of ISFAR from 1985 to 2012, Honorary Treasurer from 1998 to 2012, Membership Officer from 2000 to 2012, and also acting Secretary from time to time during this period. Tom’s contributions to ISFAR are longstanding and extensive.
On his retirement from the Committee, Tom was elected as a Life Member. Although not an academic, nor a linguist or historian, Tom was very interested in French culture, history, technology, science and current affairs, especially the connection to Australia – past and present. Tom continued to regularly attend The Melbourne Salon and other ISFAR events, including our 40th anniversary dinner held in May at the University of Melbourne. Tom will be greatly missed at our future gatherings and will be remembered with great fondness.
Tom Rado
Vale Emeritus Professor Kenneth Dutton
Friends and colleagues who knew him will be saddened to learn that Emeritus Professor Kenneth (Ken) Dutton passed away quietly in his Newcastle flat on 27 February last, aged 87.
A graduate of the University of Sydney, Ken was appointed Professor of French in 1969 at the University of Newcastle, where he subsequently served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Deputy Chairman of the Senate, and Vice-Principal & Deputy Vice-Chancellor. His knowledge of French language and literature was both broad and deep, as demonstrated by his many publications. He was also an inspiring teacher who will be fondly remembered by the many students who had the privilege of attending his classes. His final years were spent on biblical exegesis, drawing on his knowledge of ancient languages. He was a true scholar.
Emeritus Professor John West-Sooby
2nd Australia–France Track 1.5 Strategic Dialogue held in Paris – 27-28 January 2026
On 27 and 28 January, the second Australia–France Track 1.5 Strategic Dialogue was held in Paris, jointly organised by ANU’s National Security College and the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique with support from the Academy’s DFAT-funded Australia–France Indo-Pacific Studies (AFIPS) program.
The discussions brought together senior officials, leading researchers and policy practitioners to examine the implications of intensifying great-power competition for Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Across these themes, participants explored how Australia and France can deepen cooperation to safeguard strategic autonomy and reinforce a rules-based international order.
Read the joint statement here.
Australia-France Indo-Pacific Studies Program: Pacific Social Sciences Academic Grants (closing end April) and Visiting Fellowships (closing end-May)
Applications are open to scholars from any Indo-Pacific country and from all social science disciplines. Academy Fellows and stakeholders are welcome to share and circulate information related to this opportunity within their networks to help ensure broad visibility and engagement, especially with ECRs.
Further details, including updated deadlines and eligibility criteria, are available here.
Pacific Political Science Masterclass 2026
We draw your attention to the Pacific Political Science Masterclass 2026, to be held at the University of New Caledonia, Nouméa from 22 to 27 June 2026. The theme of the masterclass is ‘The Stakes of Sovereignty: Perspectives on the Pacific Region from New Caledonia’. Information about the masterclass, fees, and how to apply is available here.
The Melbourne expert who has spent a lifetime uncovering ‘the archaeology of the printed book’
ISFAR members will be interested to read this recent article from The Guardian about co-founder and longstanding member of ISFAR, Professor Wallace Kirsop.
Events and exhibitions
The 2026 Alliance Française French Film Festival has now arrived, showing in all capital cities and a number of regional centres. Information about dates and films in all locations is available on the website.
In 2026 the Art Gallery of South Australia will present ‘Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition’, bringing 57 master works from the world-renowned collection of the Toledo Museum of Art, some of which have never been seen before in Australia. Select works from AGSA’s own collection enrich and complement the exhibition experience. The exhibition commences on 11 July 2026 and continues until November. A recent ABC News item provides further information about this exhibition. Information about school bookings is available on the AGSA website
Contact us at ISFAR
ISFAR: isfarinc@gmail.com
The French Australian Review: french.australian.review@gmail.com
ISFAR Research Committee co-chairs: elizabeth.rechniewski@sydney.edu.au
Join ISFAR or renew your ISFAR membership. Membership includes subscription to The French Australian Review journal.
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Useful links
Alliance Française de Melbourne www.afmelbourne.com.au
Association of French Teachers in Victoria (AFTV) www.aftv.vic.edu.au
Australian-French Association for Research and Innovation (AFRAN) www.afran.org.au
Australian Historical Association www.theaha.org.au
Bastille Day French Festival Melbourne www.bastilledaymelbourne.com
Bleu Blanc Rouge (Consular newsletter) www.bbrvic.com/en
French Assist Melbourne www.frenchassistmelbourne.org.au
French Australian Chamber of Commerce www.facci.com.au
ISFAR resources
ISFAR provides resources to researchers in the field of French-Australian studies, with the support of the authors or contributors who give their approval to publish this material. Access all ISFAR resources www.isfar.org.au/resources.