Maritime mavens seek lost shipwrecks

SHIPWRECKS and the circulation of wealth via maritime trade are among the themes of a symposium to be held in Sydney in November.

The symposium is entitled Sea Changes: Power, Money and Technology in the Maritime World and aims to bring together interdisciplinary approaches to historical shipwrecks across the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean.

The symposium is to be held at the University of Sydney and the Australian National Maritime Museum on 27 and 28 November.

Senior lecturer in heritage studies at the University of Sydney, Natali Pearson, said they were calling for the submissions of papers for the event.

“This exciting initiative is hosted by the Change and Innovation Research Cluster at the Vere Gordon Childe Centre, with support from the Chau Chak Wing Museum and the Australian National Maritime Museum,” Dr Pearson said.

“We’re honoured to welcome Professor Wendy van Duivenvoorde as our keynote speaker.”

Profess Wendy van Duivenvoorde is a professor of maritime archaeology at Flinders University in South Australia and a recognised authority in seafaring, shipbuilding, technology and knowledge transfer.

Her research primarily examines global seafaring, including historical and archaeological studies of Western Australia's early European shipwrecks and shipbuilding in the Australian colonies.

Symposium themes include:

• Shipwrecks as sites of technological innovation
• Circulation of wealth through maritime trade
• Intangible heritage and seafaring knowledge
• Artistic and architectural representations of maritime power
• Comparative approaches across the Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific

Proposals are invited for:

• 20-minute papers
• Roundtable contributions
• HDR/ECR bursaries

Papers must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 3 October.