Markers of Authenticity

‘Forging Antiquity’ is part of the ‘Markers of Authenticity’ research cluster within the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University, a cross-disciplinary research network which draws on research expertise from across the Faculty of Arts and beyond to host conversations about the markers of authenticity in human experience of the contemporary and past worlds from a range of perspectives. How do we distinguish the real from the fake? How can we trust what we perceive? How stable is our hold on the truth? This cross-disciplinary research network seeks to understand why authenticity matters so much and to look at the ways in which it has been used to construct our relationship with the past, with ourselves and one another, with objects, animals, and the environment. The research program takes on issues as diverse as authorial and creative practice; memory and cognition; cultural heritage; looting and the antiquities trade; forgery; the relationship between the academy and the public; the expert and the amateur; technique and motivation; performance and experience; natural and artificial environments; virtual worlds and the augmentation of the body and our senses.

‘Markers of Authenticity’ hosts a seminar series convened by Malcolm Choat, Rachel Yuen-Collingridge, and Lauren Dundler, and a blog at markersofauthenticity.com.