Love, dating and sex are changing. Searching for a soulmate is tricky and finding solitude can be just as elusive. This probing talk covers the whole gamut...

Modern Love: Australian Museum X Vivid Ideas

Location:

1 William Street
2010 NSW
Australia

Venue:
Australian Museum
Modern Love: Australian Museum X Vivid Ideas
Modern Love: Australian Museum X Vivid Ideas

Featuring

Rob Brooks

Rob Brooks

Rob Brooks is an international expert on the conflicting and evolutionary interests that make sex sizzle and render reproduction complex. He knows all about sex dolls, the role of digital lovers and the rise of new technology that is changing the nature of courtship. His latest book Artificial Intimacy charts what happens when love and technology collide.

Jennifer Pinkerton

Jennifer Pinkerton

Jennifer Pinkerton is a writer, photographer and producer. She’s written stories and journalism for The Guardian, National Geographic, the UK Telegraph, the Courier-Mail, the Canberra Times and Qantas magazine, among other publications. Previously, she worked as a federal press-gallery gofer; as a features editor on a health magazine; and as an editor and writer on art, architecture and women-focused titles. She’s also helped launch live storytelling events, including the Top End’s Spun: True Tales Told in the Territory, and Canberra’s first Language Party, which celebrated the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages. Jennifer has exhibited her photography in Perth, Canberra and Darwin, holds a doctorate in creative arts and teaches at Charles Darwin University. She lives in the Northern Territory with her good mates—heat and humidity. 

Jessie Tu

Jessie Tu

Jessie Tu is a journalist and critic at SMH, The Age, and Women's Agenda. Her debut novel, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, won the 2021 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year.

Bankstown Poetry Slam

Bankstown Poetry Slam

Bankstown Poetry Slam (BPS) is Australia's largest regular poetry slam, and has been dubbed the largest poetry slam in the Southern Hemisphere. BPS' award winning events and projects drive change by empowering young people and people from diverse backgrounds to express themselves through the medium of spoken word poetry.

Access and Inclusion

  • Auslan Interpreted - Auslan interpreted events are for audiences who are Deaf and use Australian Sign Language (Auslan) as their primary means of communication. Experienced Auslan theatre interpreters stand to the side of the stage and translate what the speakers are saying or Auslan signing the text and dialogue live. Audiences requiring this service are seated in the section closest to the interpreter to ensure good sightlines.
  • Wheelchair Accessible - Access to the venue is suitable for wheelchairs (toilets, ramps/lifts etc.) and designated wheelchair spaces are available.

Event Details

Love, dating and sex are changing. Searching for a soulmate is tricky and finding solitude can be just as elusive. This probing talk covers the whole gamut of modern love – from hard and fast hook-ups to lonely hearts, sex-tech and even climate change stress.

Jennifer Pinkerton guides us into the world of intimacy amongst millennials and Generation Z. Her book Heartland blends reportage, memoir and extensive research. Informed by interviews with more than 100 people under 40 years of age – from transgender Aboriginal Sistagirls in the Tiwi Islands to conservative Catholics living in Sydney – she explores the hopes, fears, and realities of romantic relationships at a time marked by great expectations and far fewer rules.

Jennifer is joined in conversation by Rob Brooks, an international expert on the conflicting and evolutionary interests that make sex sizzle and render reproduction complex. Rob’s latest book Artificial Intimacy charts what happens when love and technology collide. Find out how digital lovers, algorithmic matchmakers, and the rise of sex-tech are changing the nature of relationships and dating.

Jessie Tu brings her incisive questions to the conversation and leaves plenty of time for questions from the audience. Jessie is a journalist and critic at SMH, The Age, and Women's Agenda. Her debut novel, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, won the 2021 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year.

After the talk, stay for live poetry by Bankstown Poetry Slam that responds to the theme. Top off the night with music, drinks and exhibitions.

 

In this series of FREE talks curated by Vivid Sydney and the Australian Museum, we reflect on what makes great cities, the joys and the pitfalls of city-living, and we hear personal stories of belonging.

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Access and Inclusion

  • Auslan Interpreted - Auslan interpreted events are for audiences who are Deaf and use Australian Sign Language (Auslan) as their primary means of communication. Experienced Auslan theatre interpreters stand to the side of the stage and translate what the speakers are saying or Auslan signing the text and dialogue live. Audiences requiring this service are seated in the section closest to the interpreter to ensure good sightlines.
  • Wheelchair Accessible - Access to the venue is suitable for wheelchairs (toilets, ramps/lifts etc.) and designated wheelchair spaces are available.