Program

Abdul Abdullah is an artist from Perth, currently based in Sydney, who works across painting, photography, video, installation and performance. A self-described ‘outsider amongst outsiders’, his practice is primarily concerned with the experience of the ‘other’ in society. Abdullah’s projects have engaged with different marginalised minority groups and he is particularly interested in the experience of young Muslims in the contemporary multicultural Australian context. 

Dr Fiona Foley is an Australian artist and influential curator, writer and academic. Foley pursues a practice encompassing painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, mixed-media work, found objects and installation to examine and dismantle historical stereotypes. Her works explore a broad range of themes that relate to politics, culture, ownership, language and identity.

Kelli McCluskey is an artist and co-founder of tactical media art group, pvi collective. Formed in 1998 pvi create playfully subversive and participatory artworks that creatively disrupt everyday life in public spaces. Their work invites direct participation from audiences, not as art consumers, but as creative comrades, cultivating an underground army of critical citizens who are up for the challenge of saving the world through creative play and revolutionary fun. 

Kelli is a passionate advocate for live art and experimental practice and its continued growth in this country and is always on the look out for ways to champion experimental art forms in Australia. She regularly speaks on panels, symposia and forums and facilitates playfully participatory discussions on the critical role of arts in society. 

Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. She is keenly interested in how contemporary ideas of nature, the natural and the artificial are changing our society, and uses her artistic practice as a forum for discussion about how technology impacts upon life. Patricia was a founder of one of Melbourne’s early artist-run spaces, the Basement Project.

Sally Smart is the Deputy Chair of NAVA and one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists recognised internationally for large-scale cut-out assemblage installations, collage painting, and increasingly performance and video, her practice engages identity politics and the relationships between the body, thought and culture including trans-national ideas that have shaped cultural history. 

Esther Anatolitis is NAVA’s Executive Director and an expert facilitator of industry events including Independent Convergence, Digital Publics, Artlands, National Sector Meeting and National Election Debate. Esther has led key state, regional and national arts and media organisations, has served numerous arts boards, government policy committees and industry advisories, and is a prolific writer and commentator.

Michaela Boland is the ABC’s national arts, culture and entertainment reporter. A former national arts reporter with The Australian, and Australia correspondent with entertainment industry bible Variety, Michaela's investigations into looted artefacts at the NGA led to an overhaul of collecting practices at Australian institutions. She pioneered arts podcasts at The Australian and is co-author of a book about Australia's leading actors and directors, Aussiewood. 

Nick Mitzevich is the new Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. He was previously the director of the Art Gallery of South Australia and prior to that, the University of Queensland Art Museum and Newcastle Region Art Gallery.

Nicholas Pickard is Director of Public Affairs and Communications at APRA AMCOS and has held executive leadership roles in Australia and overseas. Nicholas has managed the profile, reputation and advocacy campaigns of organisations and public figures across government, creative industries, urban development and the media, and is a former arts journalist. He has served as adviser to several state and federal ministers for the arts, most recently throughout the process of developing the National Cultural Policy. Nicholas is a board member of Regional Arts NSW and the Australian Society of Authors.

Peter White is a Gamilaroi Murri from north-west NSW who has held a number of senior positions in major cultural institutions and government arts agencies. Peter is currently a freelance adviser on First Peoples’ cultural and creative development and was recently elected to the NAVA Board.