Session 1: 06:00-08:00 a.m. UTC, November 23, 2023
Using Emojis in Museum Theatre: clearer communication or cross cultural confusion?
Dr. Jo Clyne
International Museum Theatre Alliance Asia Pacific
Dr. David Waldron
Federation University Australia
Melbourne, Austlaria
Field of presentation
History
Session Proposal
Emojis are regularly used as form of short-hand in digital communication, but can they also be successfully used in international museum theatre shows? Join Jo and David as they dig deeper into the history of facial signifiers including theatrical masks, iconography, pictographs and emoticons, and how these have been used to convey emotional meaning. They consider the challenges of different cultural interpretations of emoji and how this could make for an interesting ‘comedy of errors’ when trying to present museum theatre scripts internationally.
Professional Bio
Dr Jo Clyne is an historian, magician, teacher, and the current president of the International Museum Theatre Alliance Asia Pacific. She holds a PhD in History and Theatre Studies from the University of Melbourne and enjoys presenting her historical research through the medium of performance. For the past five years, she had collaborated with Dr David Waldron on history/magic shows including; The Witching Hour, A Night of Spiritualism, The Quack and the Charlatan, and Shades of Haunted Melbourne. Jo has previously worked for the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria, the University of Melbourne, Macmillan Publishers, and the Melbourne Museum. She is the host of the international podcast series ‘Museum Theatre Musings’.
Dr David Waldron is a Senior Lecturer in History at Federation University Australia with a research focus on folklore and community heritage. He is the author of “Sign of the Witch: Modernity and the Pagan Revival”, “Shock! The Black Dog of Bungay – a Case Study in Local Folklore”, and “Snarls from the Tea-Tree: Victoria’s Big Cat Folklore”, editor/contributor of “Goldfields and the Gothic: a Hidden Heritage and Folklore”, and author of “Aradale: the Making of a Haunted Asylum. He is regularly involved in public engagements, festivals and multi-media displays including Ballarat Heritage Weekend and is the co-writer and researcher for the National Trust Australia People’s Choice award historical pod cast series “Tales from Rat City”. He has long had an interest in theatrical engagement in the history heritage space some of his magical collaborations with Jo Clyne have included The Witching Hour, A Night of Spiritualism, and The Quack and the Charlatan.