The National Association for the Visual Arts
acknowledges the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation
where our office is located,
and all Custodians of Country throughout all lands, waters, and territories.
We pay our respects to Elders, past, present, and future.

SANCINTYA MOHINI SIMPSON: My name is Sancintya Mohini Simpson
and I'm based in Mianjin, Brisbane,
on Turrbal, Yuggera and Jagera country.
My work often focuses on the experiences of my family
who were taken as indentured labourers
from South India to South Africa to work on sugar plantations
and uses that space to tell those stories
and acknowledge those histories
that have often been silenced or
unknown or forgotten, sort of hid in history.

QUESTION: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF ARTISTS?

I think the main thing I would say to future artists
or artists coming out of university fresh or just starting university,
is that the community around you is so important.
Your arts community, your colleagues, and peers,
people that you could find as mentors,
those people are the most important thing, I think,
in your career or your practice
because it can be very isolating to be an artist alone
working in a studio.
And you can come across problems whether it be
the difficulties working perhaps with the institution or on a project
and to be able to have those people to go to, to ask questions,
talk about your work throw around ideas,
or learn from their stories or their experiences.
That's been the most valuable thing I've been able to find.
And it was a slow progress finding those people who
I was able to sort of learn from and gain from,
and, you know, if I need something,
make a phone call and get some advice from.

QUESTION: HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE OVERLAP WITH ARTS ADVOCACY?

Well, in my work, I often look at historical stories of labour
and exploitation of labour.
Myself, as a younger artist,
working in the industry sort of slowly,
showing work and sort of building, I guess, my arts career,
something I'm learning and I do very much struggle with
is being assertive for my own rights
and making sure that I'm listened to and my voice is heard.
And I think that's a really ongoing journey that I'm experiencing
and I think it's something that curators and institutions
need to make sure that they support that and consider
how they can support artists in terms of
being able to let their voices be heard.
But also, you know, I've been very fortunate to have
other artists and people around me really support me in
giving me advice about how to be more assertive
and ask for my rights in my practice,
and, you know, other artists sharing their experiences
and what they've gone through.
And I think that's been really valuable.

QUESTION: WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY IN YOUR WORK?

For me, what brings joy in my practice
is having my family's stories told
and them to look at my work and see it in a gallery
and be really proud that people know their history.
That brings me so much joy,
that people are learning about my ancestors,
and that my family can feel proud of their ancestors
and the experiences they went through
and that we survived through them.
So, for me, yeah, that brings me a lot of joy.