Prof Kit Messham-Muir
Curriculum Vitae
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Brief Resume
Professional info​
I am a researcher of the visual culture of war and conflict, including the role of affect in interpretation in museums and galleries, and issues of art and war.
I am the author of Double War: Shaun Gladwell, Visual Culture and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was published by Thames & Hudson in 2015, and co-author with Uroš ÄŒvoro of Images of War in Contemporary Art, (2021), and The Trump Effect in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture: Populism, Politics and Paranoia (2023), and lead editor of The Politics of Artists in War Zones: Art in Conflict (2024), all published by Bloomsbury. I also publish extensively in scholarly and popular press, and direct the StudioCrasher project (since 2012). I am also co-curator of Art of Peace: Art After War at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (2025).
I am current lead investigator on 'Art of Peace', a three-year Australian Research Council funded linkage project in partnership with the Australian War Memorial and the National Trust (NSW), and in collaboration with the the University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, University of the Arts London, California State University Los Angeles and Oberlin College and Conservatory. ‘Art of peace’ receives a Linkage Project grant from the Australian Research Council of $435,984 (2023-2026).
I was also lead investigator on ‘Art in Conflict’ ARC linkage project ($293,380, 2018-2021) in partnership with the Australian War Memorial and the National Trust (NSW), and in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and the University of Manchester.
I studies Painting at Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, Honours Class 1 in 1994. I then gained my PhD in Art History and Theory from the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 2000. My thesis was titled Toward an Understanding of Affect: Transgression, Abjection and Their Limits in Contemporary Art in the 1990s.
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I also have an outstanding record in research supervision, successfully completing
18 PhD and 6 Masters candidates since 2009.
Contacts
Prof Kit Messham-Muir
School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry
Curtin University
GPO Box U1987
Perth WA 6845
Australia
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kit.messham-muir@curtin.edu.au
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Tel: +61 8 9266 2354
Teaching Awards
2018 Faculty of Humanities Excellence in Teaching Award in the category: Individual Teacher
Curtin University
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2011 ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
Australian Learning and Teaching Council

2010 Vice-Chancellor's Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
The University of Newcastle
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2009 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence and Learning Support
The University of Newcastle
Education
PhD (2000)
School of Art History and Theory, University of New South Wales (UNSW Art & Design)
Thesis title: Toward an Understanding of Affect: Transgression, Abjection and Their Limits in Contemporary Art in the 1990s​
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Graduate Certificate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching (2009)
Centre for Teaching & Learning, The University of Newcastle
Bachelor of Visual Arts, Honours Class 1 (1994)
Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney
Professional Experience
2019 – present
Professor in Art
School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University
2016 – 2019
Associate Professor in Art
School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University
2008 – 2016
Senior Lecturer in Art History
Program Convenor, Bachelor of Fine Art (2012-2013)
School of Creative Arts, The University of Newcastle
2008 – 2011
Lecturer in Art History (2008-2011)
School of Creative Arts, The University of Newcastle
2005 – 2007
Program Manager, Western Sydney Arts Strategy and
Assistant Program Manager, Museums, Visual Arts and Crafts and Capital Infrastructure, Arts NSW,
New South Wales State Government
Lecturer (sessional) in Museum Studies
The University of Sydney
2002 – 2005
Lecturer in Museum Studies
The University of Sydney/Hong Kong University
2001
Lecturer in Art History
​(equivalent of US Assistant Professor)​
School of Humanities, University of Western Sydney
1997 – 2000 Tutor/Lecturer (sessional)
School of Art History & Theory, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales
1993 – 1995
Editorial Assistant, Art & Text
international art theory journal, University of New South Wales
1993
Editor, Honi Soit
The University of Sydney
Service and Leadership
Academic Committees and Boards
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2022 – present Member, Research and Creative Practice Committee, School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University
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2016 – present Member, Faculty Research and Graduate Studies Committee, Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University
2022 – 2023 Elected Deputy Representative for Faculty of Humanities, University Research Committee, Curtin
2021 – 2023 Member, Humanities and Social Sciences Grants Success Panel, Curtin University
2022 – 2023 Humanities Lead, Engagement and Impact 2024 Strategic Group; Engagement and Impact 2024 Faculty Working Group, Curtin
2018 – 2021 Elected Representative for Faculty of Humanities, University Research Committee, Curtin University
2016 – 2020 Member, Research and Creative Production Committee, School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University
2016 – 2017 Member, Learning and Teaching Committee, School of Design and Art, Curtin University
2014 – 2016 Member, School of Creative Arts Advisory Group, School of Creative Arts, University of Newcastle
2015 Member, External Advisory Committee, School of Humanities and Creative Arts, Avondale College
2012 – 2015 Representative for School of Creative Arts, Faculty Board, Faculty of Education and Arts, University of Newcastle
2010, 2014 Chair, External Advisory Committee, School of Humanities and Creative Arts, Avondale College
2012 – 2013 Member, Executive Committee, School of Creative Arts, University of Newcastle
2009 – 2016 Member, Teaching and Learning Committee, School of Creative Arts, University of Newcastle
Leadership
2024 – present Director of Research and Creative Practice, School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University
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2020 – 2023 Discipline Champion, Division 36, ERA 2023; Division 36, E&I 2023; Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University
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2020 – 2021 Professoriate Member, Adjunct Professor Committee, Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University
2018 Delegate for ERA 2018: 1901, 1905, Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University, 2018
2017 Director of Research and Creative Production, School of Design and Art, Curtin University
2017 Member, Management Committee, School of Design and Art, Curtin University
2017 Co-Chair, Research and Graduate Studies Committee, School of Design and Art, Curtin University
2014 – 2016 Coordinator of Technologised Learning, School of Creative Arts, University of Newcastle
2012 – 2013 Program Convenor, Bachelor of Fine Art, School of Creative Arts, University of Newcastle