Biography
Victoria is an Australian archaeologist and biological anthropologist. She completed joint degrees, a Bachelor of Music Studies (Composition) and Bachelor of Arts (Archaeology) with First Class Honours, at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and University of Sydney (2014-2019). It was during her studies that she investigated working interdiscplinarily, combining her experience with sound technologies with evolutionary theory. She has had fieldwork experience in Soyo, Mongolia; Kantarodai, Sri Lanka; and notably, in 2018, conducted her first solo fieldwork study at the Lower Paleolithic site of Coves del Toll in Spain as an Olwen Tudor Jones Scholar.
Supported by the Cambridge Trust as an International Scholar, she is a current PhD candidate for Biological Anthropology where she seeks to expand her interdisciplinary work into a broader exploration of acoustic perception (and its relation to the neurological and cultural evolution of language and music) as a basis into modes of bio-acoustic material development and construction.
Research
Evolution; acoustics; music; language; communication; bioacoustics; bioarchitecture; sound technology
Key Publications
Material Culture, Art Discourse and Collections:
Pham, V. 2021. 'Opera Australia and the Expense of Orientalist Spectacle,' Decolonial Hacker, Vol. 1. Accessible: https://www.decolonialhacker.org/article/opera-australia-and-the-expense...
Pham, V. 2021. 'Coming Home to a Saigon Summer,' Killing Your Darlings. Accessible: https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/coming-home-to-a-saigon-summer/
Nguyen, J. & Pham, V. 2020. 'RE:SOUNDING - Mythology of a Drum,' ADSR ZINE Vol. 9. Accessible: https://www.adsrzine.com/009
Technical Illustrations provided for:
Taylor, W. & Fantoni, M. et al. 2020. ‘Horse sacrifice and butchery in Bronze Age Mongolia,’ Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, p. 1-8.
Taylor, W.T.T., Clark, J., Bayarsaikhan, J. et al. Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia. Sci Rep 10, 1001 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57735-y
Teaching and Supervisions
Supervisor (2021-2022): B3 Human Evolution, University of Cambridge
Supervisors: Dr Arik Kershenbaum and Dr Robert Foley
Advisor: Dr Emma Pomeroy
Other Professional Activities
- Member of St John’s College, Cambridge, UK
- Book Reviews Editor for the Archaeological Review from Cambridge
- Published technical Illustrator and Fieldwork Site Artist: in particular for the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Australian Museum, Nicholson Museum and Jaffna Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka)
- Photographer/Documentarian: in particular solo fieldwork in Coves del Toll with photography for Museu i Arxiu Historic de Moià, UNESCO Geoparks; and photography series for the Sri Lankan Embassy 2018
Classical Composer, Sound Designer and Installation Artist: Commissions and exhibitions from institutions and ensembles around the world including, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, St John's Voices, TATE Britain, Art Gallery of NSW, Anna Schwartz Gallery - and featured artist for festivals such as VIVID, TINA, and BLEED.
