Melinda Rackham facts for kids

Melinda Rackham is an Australian writer, artist, and curator. She is known for her creative work with digital art and technology. She also teaches as a research professor at the University of South Australia.

Her Early Life and Art

Melinda Rackham studied art at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney. She learned about sculpture and performance art. In 1989, she won awards for her work there. She also helped start and run art spaces with other artists in Sydney. These were places where artists could show their work.

In 1995, Melinda became one of the first people in Australia to curate internet art. This means she organized online art shows. She worked with other artists to create "WWWO: Wollongong Worlds Women Online." This was an online art show featuring digital art from 30 Australian women.

Her Famous Digital Art: carrier

In 2000, Melinda's digital artwork called carrier won a special award. This artwork explores ideas about the human body. It looks at how tiny things like germs can affect us. One expert described carrier as a work that makes you think differently about your body. It uses text and images to tell a story about infection and illness.

Melinda's art was shown in many important exhibitions from 1995 to 2003. These included major art events around the world. She also started an online forum called –empyre– in 2002. This forum helped artists talk about art and identity in virtual worlds. She even built "empyrean," one of Australia's first virtual reality spaces.

Her Work in Art and Technology

In 2003, Melinda Rackham became the first Curator of Networked Media at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). This museum is in Melbourne. From 2010 to 2012, she also helped curate for Australia's Royal Institution.

She led the Australian Network for Art and Technology from 2005 to 2009. During this time, she helped develop wearable technology. This is technology you can wear, like smartwatches or clothing with built-in electronics. She organized workshops and exhibitions about it.

As a professor at RMIT University, Melinda continued to write and curate. She focused on new art forms that use networks, biology, and wearable tech. In 2010, she curated "Dream Worlds: Australian Moving Image" in China. This show displayed Australian art on huge public screens.

Later, she wrote a book about artist Catherine Truman. She also spent time living on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands. Since 2017, she has been a research professor at the University of South Australia. There, she studies art, the environment, and feminism. In 2023, she co-wrote a book called CoUNTess: Spoiling Illusions since 2008. This book looks at gender differences in the Australian art world.

Her Advocacy Work

From 2014 to 2017, Melinda was an active member of IDentityRites. This group supports people who were adopted. She helped create "The Space Between," a public artwork in Adelaide. This artwork honors those affected by past adoption practices in South Australia. It was unveiled in 2016.

With IDentityRites, Melinda also helped create a book of poetry and stories called "ADOPTED" in 2017. In 2018, she appeared in a documentary film called You Should be Grateful. This film explores how adoption can affect people throughout their lives.

Awards and Recognition

• 2018 SALA Festival Patron's Art Writer's Award, Australia
• 2001 SoundSpace Award for Virtual Environments, Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Germany
• 2000 The Mayne Award for Multimedia as part of the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature
• 1999 Gram Internet Art Prize, Argentina