News & Opinion

Interview with Milo Tse: Hong Kong Artist Union 香港藝術家工會

In this interview NAVA spoke to Milo Tse of Hong Kong Artist Union about the challenges artists have faced in the current political landscape in Hong Kong, and the ways HKAU are supporting artists wanting to enact direct political change. 

Q&A with Elizabeth Rogers

We caught up with Elizabeth Rogers, CEO of Regional Arts NSW about the upcoming Artstate Tamworth, 31 October - 3 November 2019.

Q&A Blak Curatorial Exchange

NAVA talks to Blak Curatorial Exchange program mentors, Freja Carmichael, Jo-Anne Driessens and Amanda Hayman about some of the highlights of the program.

Q&A Ben Tupas

NAVA chats to Ben Tupas about LIT Festival and working in Toowoomba.

Q&A Grace Dewar

NAVA chats to Grace Dewar about the impact of the First Coat festival in Toowoomba its future.

Aleshia Lonsdale

NAVA recently talked with artist, Aboriginal Arts Development Officer of Arts OutWest and speaker at Artstate Bathurst, Aleshia Lonsdale. 

Q&A Cut Thumb ARI

NAVA chats with Lu Forsberg and Callum McGrath to discuss highlights of an ARI mentorship program held in Qld.

Q&A with Janina Harding

We caught up with Janina Harding, Artistic Director of CIAF for a quick chat.

Image: Sid Bruce Shortjoe, Janina Harding, Kristen Fagan. Blueclick Photography.

Q&A with Carly Lane and Andrea May Churcher

Image: Michael Cook, INVASION (Laser girls) 2017, digital print, 135 x 200cm. Courtesy of the artist and Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane.

Q&A with Dr Oliver Watts

We chat with the inaugural artist director on the Copyright Agency board, Dr Oliver Watts, about the benefits and implications of copyright, as well as new and existing initiatives for visual artists.

Q&A with Paola Balla

We speak with Wemba-Wemba and Gunditjmara woman, artist, curator and researcher, Paola Balla, on feminism and her recent projects.

Q&A with the Artists' Committee

The Artists’ Committee is an informal association of artists and arts workers that makes collaborative public work around the intersection of money, ethics and culture.

Q&A with Nici Cumpston

Artistic Director of the Tarnanthi Festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, 13 Oct 2017 - 28 Jan 2018, Adelaide.

Q&A with Van T Rudd

We chat to Melbourne-based artist and activist Van T Rudd about his murals, free speech and how he challenges the status quo.

Q&A with Dick Quan

Dr Dick Quan is a highly respected collector of Australian and international art. We caught up with him to find out what he enjoys about art fairs.

Q&A Future Contemporary

We chat to participating Future Contemporary galleries showing at the upcoming Sydney Contemporary 7-10 September 2017 at Carriageworks.

Q&A with Roberta Rich

Roberta Rich is one of the four 2017 recipients of The Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists. Drawing on her diasporic African identity, Rich’s multidisciplinary practice probes into the notion of ‘authentic identity’ and problematises the way it has been constructed and represented in contemporary socio-political and cultural context.

Q&A with Wendy Whiteley

A preview of our upcoming NAVA in conversation podcast with Wendy Whiteley.

Q&A with Tamara Winikoff

We chat to Tamara Winikoff about the highs and lows and the changes she's witnessed over her years at NAVA.

Q&A with the CoUNTess Team

We caught up with the Countess Team to discuss the impact their research has had on the contemporary Australian visual arts sector over the past 9 years.

Q&A with Judy Watson

We chat with NAVA Member and renowned Brisbane-based artist Judy Watson.

RAYGUN Projects

We chat to RAYGUN Projects, a non-profit artist run initiative owned and co-directed by artists Alexandra Lawson and Tarn McLean in the CBD of Toowoomba, southern Queensland.

Q&A with a-n The Artists Information Company

We spoke to Jeanie Scott, Executive Director of UK-based organisation a-n about their Paying Artists campaign for UK artists and their thoughts on artist fee models in Sweden and elsewhere.

Q&A with Michelle Nikou

We had a chat to one of the NAVA Visual Arts Fellowship recipients - Michelle Nikou.

Q and A with regional artists

Q&A with Djon Mundine

We interviewed curator, writer, artist and activist Djon Mundine.

Shitstorm

On the theme of censorship, NAVA asked Scot Cotterell (artist) and John Vella (curator of the ‘Brainstorm’ exhibition for Dark Mofo in Tasmania) to reflect on their experience when Scot’s artwork ‘Shitstorm’ elicited strong reactions from the students and staff of the Tasmanian College of the Arts in Hobart.

Q&A with Michael Agzarian

We interview the graphic designer behind the recent political poster series of Turnbull, Abbott, Hockey, Bishop and Brandis.

Q&A On approaching the mid-career

Q&A Harrie Fasher

We chat to Harrie Fasher, recipient of the 2015 Windmill Trust Scholarship for Regional NSW Artists.

Q&A Bruce Rowe

Based in Melbourne, Anchor Ceramics is a design studio that operates in an applied research, prototyping and product development capacity. The studio produces handmade ceramic lighting, tile, outdoor and furniture product ranges. Initially trained as an architect, founder, Bruce Rowe began making ceramics as a side project in 2009 and maintains his studio practice through a process of continual visual inquiry, exhibition and publication. We chat to him about working across multiple disciplines, the sustainability of Australian craft and design, and the underlying ethos of Anchor Ceramics.

Q&A with Women's Art Register

Interview with Danielle Hakim and Sally Northfield, Co-Convenors of Women's Arts Register.

Q&A with Laura McCusker

Laura McCusker has been building furniture professionally for over 15 years and is a classically trained fine woodworker and cabinet maker with experience in boat building, fit outs and traditional freestanding pieces. We chat to her about the path that took her from Sydney to Tasmania and which has seen her work commissioned by the MONA and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery as well as a number of personal commissions from Tasmania, mainland Australia and beyond.

Q&A with Stephanie nova Milne

Stephanie nova Milne is one half of the artist nova Milne, and co-founded their collective Ms&Mr, and also our NAVA Online course facilitator for Writing Grant Proposals. Currently based in New York, Stephanie chats to us about the importance of writing grants within an arts practice.

Q&A with Brook McCarthy

We chat to Brook McCarthy trainer and business coach and founder of Hustle & Heart, and online course facilitator for NAVA Online's Maximise Your Exposure about the importance of marketing skills for artists.

Q&A with Monica Davidson

We chat to Monica Davidson, CEO of Creative Plus Business Group and the former NSW Creative Industries Business Adviser and online course facilitator for NAVA's Art Business Basics about the practical skills artists need alongside their creative practice.

Q&A with Jon Goulder

We chat to Jon Goulder, Creative Director of Furniture Studio, Jam Factory about his practice, place and the popularity of Jam Factory.

Q and A with Amanda Buckland

Amanda Buckland is passionate about the power of creatively to transform people and places. As a cultural planner, project manager and educator, she connects government, artists and communities. She works for Not for Profits, Local Government and in the Health, Art and Education sectors. She has designed a course for NAVA online called “So where to from here? Alternative income sources for artists".

Q&A with Clare Cooper

We chat to Clare Cooper who has created a monthly arts futuring program at the University of Technology, Sydney where she is currently lecturing in Interdisciplinary Design Studies, Design Thinking and Researching Design History.

Q&A with Claudia Nicholson

Claudia Nicholson is one of four 2015 recipients of NAVA’s Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists. Through her multi-disciplinary practice, Nicholson explores Latin American folklore, pre-Columbian artefacts and Chola culture. For her, this research is an avenue for understanding her position amongst Australian, Latino and Amerindian cultures. Through the support of this scholarship, Nicholson will travel throughout South and Central America to visit various cultural events and shop for ‘counterfeit goods’.

Q&A with Heidi Axelsen

In July Sainsbury Sculpture Grant 2014 recipients, Heidi Axelsen and Hugo Moline completed their artist residency at Australia House, Echigo Tsumari, Japan (2013-2015). In collaboration with fellow Australian artist Nathan Hawkes, and the local Japanese community, they developed a new public art work, 2000 Waraji 200 Feet which was commissioned especially for the 2015 Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale. During Axelsen and Moline's installation of their recent work Owner Occupy in Martin Place Sydney, part of the Groundwork 2015 festival, we spoke to Heidi about their latest project and how their residency experience has shaped their practice.

Q&A with Art Collective WA

We chat to Art Collective WA's Chair, Merrick Belyea, and Director Felicity Johnston about their unique gallery model, the circumstances surrounding its formation and its focus on the careers of established Western Australian artists.


Q&A with Jessie Mitchell

With an interesting practice at the intersection of art, craft and design, emerging practitioner Jessie Mitchell introduces her work, her experience working with traditional craft practitioners in Hanoi, and the challenges that lie ahead for the future of Australian craft and design.

Q&A with Dr Terry Wu

This month we interview Dr Terry Wu, collector, an indefatigable advocate for the arts, and NAVA Board Member, Terry endeavours to contribute to the wellbeing of artists and visual art in Australia. Terry serves as a Board Director of Heide Museum of Modern Art and supports institutions and events including the National Gallery of Victoria, The Melbourne Festival, Sydney Biennale and the new Australian Pavilion for Venice Biennale.

Q&A with Mike Parr

Renowned Australian performance artist Mike Parr on the challenges of maintaining an independent practice since the 1970s, eschewing government funding and establishing one of Australia's landmark ARIs Inhibodress.

Q&A with Phillip Keir, Keir Foundation

NAVA speaks to Phillip Keir, co-founder of the Keir Foundation, and Chairman of the Biennale of Sydney about his support of the Arts within the realms of "arts incubation" and "venture capital".

Q&A with Jordan Bryon

NAVA speaks to Jordan Bryon, one of the winners of NAVA's Soup Sessions in 2014, about her upcoming project and challenges to her arts career.

Q&A with Cementa15 artists

From 9 to 12 April, 2015, over 60 contemporary artists from both Sydney and regional NSW will participate in Cementa15, an arts festival that celebrates the state of contemporary art in Australia and the community of artists that generate this strange, challenging, and wonderful way of looking and thinking about the world. NAVA spoke to some of those artists about the strategies and challenges experienced when producing their work.

​Q&A with Sainsbury Sculpture Grant recipients

NAVA had a chat with Heidi Axelsen and Hugo Moline, two of the recipients of the 2014 Sainsbury Sculpture Grant, about their practice and upcoming residency in Japan.

Artist Interview: Sarah O'Sullivan

NAVA spoke to Sarah O'Sullivan on her arts practice as a ceramicist.

​Q&A with Elvis Richardson

NAVA spoke with Elvis Richardson, artist, academic and author of the blog, CoUNTess, on her practice and experience as an artist.

Artist Interview with Noriko Nakamura

Noriko Nakamura was one of the recipients of the Sainsbury Sculpture Award last year. Based in Melbourne, she has exhibited as a solo artist and as part of groups in Melbourne, New Zealand and her native Japan. Here she talks to us about the inspirations behind her work.

Artist Interview with Owen Leong

Owen Leong is a contemporary artist who explores the body as a physical site of exchange for social, cultural and political forces. Owen talks to NAVA about his career path and the steps taken to get there.

Q&A with Barry Keldoulis

NAVA's new Chair, Barry Keldoulis, talks about his experiences working for a New York 'art tsar' and his current role as Director of the Melbourne Art Fair and Sydney Contemporary.