From its development in the colonial period, to its echoes in today's multimedia spaces, the magic lantern, along with its thousands of photographic and hand-painted slides, has had a pervasive and lasting impact on visual culture. Historians are just discovering its powerful presence in entertainment, education, science, religion, politics and advertising. Galleries, libraries and archives are uncovering untouched caches of slides in their collections. And, artistis and performers are rekindling the 'magic' of the technology. 

This conference is hosted by the Australian Research Council Project, Heritage in the Limelight: the magic lantern in Australia and the world, in partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra. It will feature keynotes from Dr Vanessa Agnew (the University Duisburg-Essen, Germany); Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker (Wesleyan College, Conneticuit) and, William Yang and Nicholas Ng (contemporary Australian performance artists). Papers will be presented during the day by international and local scholars, and members of the gallery, museum and librrary sector, who have extensive research expertise on and around the phenomenon of the magic lantern. The evenings will include creative re-imaginings of the magic lantern by contemporary artists.  Further details available here.