Danijela Kulezic-Wilson Memorial Postgraduate Symposium - 17/10/25

1 Sep 2025

Happening On 17/10/2025

Innovative creative practice and arts–science interdisciplinary research will take centre stage at University College Cork (UCC) during the inaugural Danijela Kulezic-Wilson Postgraduate Symposium.

Taking place on Friday, 17 October, the programme features presentations, performances, and screenings from postgraduate researchers across Ireland, highlighting exciting new research and creative practice inspired by Dr Danijela Kulezic-Wilson legacy.

All welcome to join us for the full day or sessions across the day.
Register to attend here.

Venue: University College Cork
Ó Riada Hall, Sunday’s Well (morning session)
Film and Screen Media Screening Room, Kane Building, UCC Campus (afternoon session)

Morning Session – Ó Riada Hall

10:00 – JG / RS / MA
Welcome

10:10 – Barry Monahan (UCC)
The Acoustic “Here” is Everywhere in the Work of Danijela Kulezic-Wilson
Jean-Luc Godard once said it was more natural to watch a film without colour than without sound. Danijela’s work explored how film sound interacts with narrative and audience perception, addressing ideological hierarchies in sound production and the politics of listening. This talk traces her ideas of “presence” and “being here,” connecting her creative philosophy to a broader humanism.

10:40 – Doug Murray
Knowing Danijela and setting up a scholarship and symposium in her name
A short reflection on Danijela Kulezic-Wilson’s influence as a researcher, mentor, and colleague, and the establishment of the scholarship and symposium that carry her name.

11:00 – Rishin Singh (UCC)
A Situationist dérive through the landscape of contemporary opera
An experimental dérive through the world of contemporary opera, inspired by the Situationist practice of exploring cities through “playful-constructive behavior.” Singh examines how this approach reveals the psychogeography of opera’s physical, digital, and ideological spaces.

11:30 – Maxine Acton (UCC)
Do Medical Students Need More Drama?
A presentation and short demonstration from a PhD project developing a drama-based module for medical students. The research explores how embodied learning through drama can enhance empathy, adaptability, and communication in healthcare.

12:00 – Nada Ní Chuirrín (Maynooth / University of Galway)
Blurring Boundaries: A Performance-based Exploration of Embodiment and Musicality in Sean-nós Dance
Accompanied by melodeon player Amhlaoibh Ó Síocháin Ó Beoláin
This performance-paper explores how movement and listening intertwine in Sean-nós dance, challenging the divide between music and dance and re-engaging with the holistic concept of ceol in Gaeltacht practice.

12:30 – James McGlynn (Trinity College Dublin)
Audiovisualising Eno: Musicalized Film Form in Dawes and Hustwit’s ‘Generative Documentary’
A study of Eno (2024), a generative documentary that reimagines how music documentaries can function in an algorithmic era. McGlynn examines how such non-linear filmmaking can remain artful, ethical, and human.

13:00 – Brian Sheehan (MTU)
Auditory Display and Analytical Play (Performance Presentation)
A live exploration of using sound analysis techniques—like spectrograms—as tools for real-time musical understanding.

13:30 – Lunch Break

Afternoon Session – Kane Screening Room

15:00 – Deirdre Molloy (UCC / University of Toulouse)
Drum Calls / Body Recalls (Film, 20 mins)
A journey through music, dance, and historical trauma that reclaims Black Atlantic and African heritage. The film honours ancestors lost to the transatlantic slave trade and examines rhythm as cultural transmission through muscle memory rather than DNA.

15:30 – Fiona Kelly (UCC)
It Brings Us Together: Preliminary Findings on the Social Impacts of a Music Programme for Older Adults in Residential Care
Early results from an 18-week music programme in care settings, comparing facilitation by staff and external musicians. The research highlights how music can foster community and align with national care standards.

16:00 – Conor Bourgal (UCC)
Re-contextualising Real World Sounds in Composition
A presentation and sound sample from a project exploring how found sounds can be integrated into new musical works to reveal fresh artistic and conceptual meanings.

16:00 – Jelena Perišić (University of Limerick)
I, Solaris (Interactive Screening)
An experimental adaptation of Stanisław Lem’s Solaris, told from the perspective of the sentient ocean itself. Blending film, painting, and audience interaction, this piece blurs the lines between screen, space, and spectator.

16:30 – Closing comments