Written by Davita Coronel in conversation with Fernando do Campo.

Our conference is only two weeks away! Time to look ahead: what can our delegates expect?

AASA 2025 will be hosted by the creative arts school of Southern Queensland University in Toowoomba, a school that has a prestigious history in the creative arts. We are thrilled that this partnership allows us to host an exhibition as part of our conference, that will be opened on the first day of our conference: 

Centring Animals: AASA Conference Exhibition 2025
A Block Gallery, UniSQ, Toowoomba, QLD
Artists: Beata Batorowicz, Jane Michaele Cameron, Fernando do Campo, Heather Fraser, Carmen Guiterrez Jordano, Morganna Magee, Mona Quilty, Jen Valender & Yvette Watt
Curated by Fernando do Campo and Rebecca Scollen

AASA has been founded by people in the creative arts and has always valued the importance of non-traditional research in animal studies. For this year’s conference, the organising committee has worked hard to design a conference that embodies cross disciplinarity.

As a group the AASA committee has really embraced the idea of cross disciplinarity, decentring disciplinarity and decentring ourselves in relation to how we think, speak and collaborate with animals – Dr. Fernando do Campo, Senior Lecturer UNSW Art & Design.

The vision of cross disciplinarity for the conference was met with enthusiasm: the call for papers received many submissions by people wanting to present non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) during the conference. This has made it possible that every session will have a NTRO component, such as a film, a piece of creative writing, a sculpture or a drawing. Traditional paper presentations will be presented alongside NTROs in each session.

In addition to the exhibition and the NTROs, participants can also expect an open mic night, during which both pros and amateurs can present spoken word, creative writing pieces or other works. There will also be a display table for delegates to bring their publications such as zines, books, posters, or activism materials. 

And that is the success of this conference: the idea of centring animals has also been something that allowed our research community to imagine ways of sharing research that maybe is novel or that would otherwise not be celebrated – Fernando do Campo

We look forward to seeing all delegates in Toowoomba in 5-7 November!

Featured Artwork:
Dingo Tales (2020-2021) by Beata Batorowicz.
Mixed media, recycled materials and wood plinth
Dimensions Variable
Courtesy of the Artist
Photography: Dr Jason Castro.

See more of Beata’s work during the Centring Animals exhibition of the AASA 2025 conference.