Dr Dida Sundet is an interdisciplinary researcher, visual artist, and scholar working across visual culture, feminist media studies, critical media literacy, and gender-based violence prevention. Originally from Norway and now based in Perth, Australia, her work explores how sexual violence is represented in art, media, and public culture, and how more ethical, trauma-aware, and victim-centred approaches to representation can support prevention.

Her practice-led research brings together visual art, feminist theory, mythology, news media, and public engagement. Her doctoral research examined the connection between Greek and Roman mythology and contemporary socio-political debates around men’s violence against women, with a particular focus on the myth of the “heroic” rapist. Through this research, Dida explored how visual art and feminist counter-media practices can challenge harmful myths, disrupt traditional gender stereotypes, and offer alternative ways of seeing and understanding sexual violence.

Dida’s current work is grounded in the belief that images and stories matter. She examines how visual culture shapes public attitudes towards gender-based violence, and how critical media literacy can help audiences recognise and question the myths that often surround victimhood, perpetration, and power. Her research uses interdisciplinary, practice-led methods to translate complex ideas into accessible forms of public engagement, connecting academic research with creative practice, education, and prevention.

With a background in theatre, film, art history, photography, and visual art, Dida’s work moves across creative and scholarly spaces. She has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas, and her image 3 Sitroner (3 Lemons) was awarded first place in the Special Night Photography, Non-Professional category at the International Photography Awards in 2013.

Dida is a proud neurodivergent academic whose work is shaped by a commitment to feminist research, ethical representation, and accessible public education. Across her research and creative practice, she is interested in how visual culture can be used not only to critique harmful narratives, but to create new ways of thinking about violence prevention, representation, and social change.