Uncovering the mystical world of ancient theatre . . .

Oct 22, 2004

Exploring the past and present, memory and loss, permanence and the ephemeral.

University of Wollongong Associate Professor Diana Wood Conroy’s new book allows readers to take an imaginative journey through the evolution of theatres, uncovering the complex world of the Eastern Mediterranean, both ancient and modern.

‘The Fabric of Ancient Theatre’ was officially launched yesterday (Thursday October 21) at the UniCentre Bookshop.

Professor Conroy’s practice as an artist and a writer moves across the fields of textiles, archaeology and the visual arts, with constant connections between these fields.

“Since 1966 students and staff from UOW’s Faculty of Creative Arts have participated in yearly excavations of an ancient Greek theatre in Paphos, Cyprus,” she said.

“This excavation, directed by Professor Richard Green from the University of Sydney, has been funded by the Australian Research Council, and links Australian scholars to institutions in Cyprus.”

Professor Conroy’s book is a series of ‘excavation journals’ from these experiences in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, and explores culture and myth through personal, focused and deeply eclectic writing.

It links her fieldwork as an archaeologist and artist on the excavation of the Paphos theatre in Cyprus to ideas of ‘Australian place’ with its deep Aboriginal past.

-RP