Contributor Biographies

Jake Bonin is a programmer and graphic designer. Based in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, he works both independently and collaboratively with clients across the arts, architecture, and culture.

Fayen d'Evie is an artist, publisher, and academic, born in Malaysia, raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, and now living and working on unceded Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung lands, in Naarm-Melbourne, Australia. D’Evie’s projects are often collaborative, and resist spectatorship by inviting audiences into sensorial readings of artworks and texts. A lifetime of fluctuating vision has spurred creative research into blindness as a critical and imaginative position. She is also the founder of independent imprint 3-ply, which approaches artist-led publishing as an experimental site for the creation, dispersal, and archiving of texts.

Elyse Goldfinch is a curator, writer and editor based in Naarm/Melbourne. With a career focus on advocacy, collaboration, exchange and support for artists, she he has worked in several non-profit and independent spaces, collaborating with multidisciplinary artists to develop ambitious, experimental and ground-breaking projects. Elyse is the incoming CEO at Next Wave, and was previously Curator at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art where her curatorial projects includeTina Stefanou: You Can’t See Speed, 2025; Tennant Creek Brio: Juparnta Ngattu Minjinypa Iconocrisis, 2024; From the other side, 2023-24; and Lucy Guerin: NEWRETRO, 2023.

Tara Heffernan is a vision impaired art historian and critic. Currently, she is completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne on postwar Italian artist Piero Manzoni. Her work concerns modernism and the avant-gardes, conceptual art and the lineage/s of the New Left. She is a regular contributor to Melbourne’s Memo Review and has written for national and international publications such as Artlink Magazine, Third Text Online, Eyeline and Overland. In 2024, she was a judge for the Darling Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. Heffernan was the guest editor of Un Magazine issue 18.1 Badaud and recently contributed a chapter to Jeff Gibson: False Gestalt (Griffith University Art Museum x Perimeter Editions, 2024) edited by Wes Hill. She is currently a sessional academic at the University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Tessa Laird is a writer, occasional artist, and Senior Lecturer in Critical and Theoretical Studies at VCA Art, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne. She has written monographs on colour: A Rainbow Reader, Clouds, Auckland, 2013; animals: Bat, Reaktion, London, 2018; and the intersections of animal and artistic practices: Cinemal: the becoming-animal of experimental film, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2025. In 2021 she edited a special issue of Art + Australia on the theme ‘Multinaturalism’, and in 2022 curated the exhibition Baroquetopus: Humanimal Entanglements and Tentacular Spectaculars at Gertrude Contemporary. Her current interests include investigations of expanded cinema in relation to more-than-human ecologies. She is Tina Stefanou’s PhD supervisor.

Lloyd Mst is a graphic designer based in Naarm who creates inclusive experiences celebrating diverse voices. Their practice expands across sensory performance and publishing spaces, exploring the intersections of technology, description, and accessible communication.

Alexandra Pirici is an artist with a background in dance and choreography, working in the field of visual arts. Her work has been widely exhibited internationally, two times included in the Venice Biennale - the 59th edition of the International Art Exhibition The Milk of Dreams in 2022 and the Romanian Pavilion at the 55th edition in 2013, and in the decennial art exhibition Skulptur Projekte Munster in 2017. She had collective and solo exhibitions in contexts such as Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin, New Museum New York, Art Basel Messeplatz, The 9th Berlin Biennale, Manifesta 10, Tate Modern London, Centre Pompidou Paris, Museum Ludwig Cologne, The Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, NTU CCA Singapore and Ulsan Art Museum among many others. Alexandra Pirici works in museum contexts, in public space and sometimes in theatrical frameworks. She choreographs ongoing actions, performative monuments and performative environments that fuse dance, sculpture, spoken word and music. Since February, 2023, she is the first Professor for Performance in Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munchen (AdBK Munich). Juundaal Strang-Yettica ‘Nigh yiggen Juundaal. Ngay garni yugen Bundjalung & Kannakan. Nigh jihanny biyanny yugen Dharawal. I belong to saltwater and I am on my way Home. Not a Bio as such. I’d rather offer some of myself, than a list of things. At the best of times I may not know who I am but I know to whom & where I belong. My Grandmother, Granny Jane was a hard woman with ancestral connections I cannot describe and only a select few understand. My Mother, Ellen May, gave and taught me about resilience, the strength of compassion and courage in the face of challenge. When I was a child, my Sisters spent hours helping me learn to draw and make. I am old and new simultaneously, wise & naïve at the same time. A messenger who hopes to build bridges, through time. Looking to the past, pointing in that direction, to help heal the present and protect the future. I hope to be the sum total of those who stood before me, this land, all my Ancestors & my Mentors. To the best of my ability, memory-instinct and learning, my work is about relationships and is theirs, yours & ours, as both gift and duty.’

Michael Taussig is an anthropologist known for his provocative ethnographic studies and unconventional style as an academic. He was born in Australia in 1940 and later studied medicine at the University of Sydney. He earned a PhD in anthropology at the London School of Economics. He is currently a professor of anthropology at Columbia University in New York and at The European Graduate School / EGS in Switzerland. In spite of his numerous publications in his field, especially in medical anthropology, he is most acclaimed for his commentaries on Karl Marx and Walter Benjamin, especially in relation to the idea of commodity fetishism. Taussig is the author of What Color is the Sacred?, 2009, Walter Benjamin’s Grave, 2006, My Cocaine Museum, 2004, Law in a Lawless Land: Diary of a Limpieza in a Colombian Town, 2003, Defacement, 1999, Magic of the State, 1997, Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses, 1993, The Nervous System, 1992, Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing, 1987, and The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America, 1980.

Azza Zein is an interdisciplinary artist and writer living in Narrm/Melbourne. Her artistic research focuses on materialising the fluid relationships between body/object, land, and labour. She is particularly interested in revaluing the decorative act and examining migrant materials through the lens of modernity’s iconoclastic aesthetics and the violence of displacement. Her essays often explore how artworks comment onthe dematerialisation of the economy and the invisibility of labour. Her writing has been published in journals like Art + Australia, Kohl Journal, and un Extended, and she has contributed an essay to the Care Ethics and Art Anthology (Routledge). As a sessional academic, she has taught studio art and theory at several universities, including the American University of Beirut, La Trobe University and the Victorian College of the Arts.

Martin De Jesus is a Naarm/Melbourne based technician. He has worked with organisations including ACCA, the NGV, Gertrude Projection Festival and produced and installed for local artists throughout Melbourne. Outside of the arts, Martin operates an online fitness business with his partner, and loves travelling whether in the ute or overseas.

Kubota Fumikazu is a painter from Japan. His hard-edged abstract paintings are geometric blocks of colour on raw linen. He studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and is also the frontman of local punk band, Krul.

Kurt Medenbach is a Naarm/Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist and arts rigger. They have a passion for implementing complex technology focused installations. And you will often find them hanging around in a scissor lift. Their art practice explores the intersections of identity and technology. Originally working with sound, their installation-based practice has now expanded towards all senses. Employing a dissociated sense of time—they have a particular interest in the fragmented temporality that exists within digital spaces and the dance floor.

Leon van de Graaff is a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, performance and video. Working primarily with found objects and waste materials, his subject matter usually gravitates towards mental health, politics and environment. Leon has been professionally installing exhibitions for galleries and museums for over 20 years, specialising in audio visual, problematic artworks, and minor fabrication. He has recently added exhibition design and installation training for gallery staff to his services.

Shae Nagorcka is a Naarm/Melbourne based producer and exhibitions manager with more than fifteen years experience in contemporary art. Shae has developed national touring projects and worked directly with many of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. He has produced, developed and curated projects for Gertrude Contemporary, the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Bundoora Homestead, NETS Victoria, Abbotsford Convent, C3 Contemporary, Shepparton Art Museum and Neon Parc. Shae enjoys rap music and is the proud owner of Kenny the long haired chihuahua.

Nicholas Smith (b. 1990, Geelong) investigates sexuality, identity and memory in his works, often employing diverse media including ceramics and found materials. In 2019, Smith was awarded the American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia AusArt Fellowship in support of his Masters of Fine Art at ArtCenter College of Design, Los Angeles. Smith’s works have been featured in recent exhibitions including: Future Remains: The 2024 Macfarlane Commissions, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 2024; The National 4: Australian Art Now, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2023; Queer: Stories from The NGV Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2022. His work is held in Artbank and the National Gallery of Victoria’s collection.

Sam Vawdrey is a Naarm-based practicing artist with a professional career in the arts, managing exhibitions, coordinating new commissions, and supporting artists and curators in bringing projects to life.

Thomas Whelan is a Naarm/Mebourne based producer and technician. Previously based in Sydney, Tom has worked with organisations including the Powerhouse, Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Biennale of Sydney and Hazelhurst Gallery, as well as having assisted artists including Nel, Daniel Boyd and Peter Kingston. Tom is a non-practicing artist.

Aarti Jadu is from a background of group devotional singing and folk tradition. Aarti seeks to integrate participatory work into contemporary composition and interactive works of art.

Alice Heyward is a dancer, choreographer, and writer whose interdisciplinary practice spans performance, teaching, and writing. Her work is made and presented internationally.

Alistair McLean maintains an extensive practice as a recording engineer and producer across live and studio environments, specialising in classical, new music, jazz, improvised and acoustic music. He regularly works on projects ranging from experimental works to orchestral music, live recordings, filmed performances, studio albums and installations, and has an interest in audio restoration and archiving.

Alistair also has a particular interest in multi-channel spatialisation, diffusion, and immersive audio, as well as live sound, electronics, and Max programming.

Alex Wisser is an artist and creative producer based in Kandos, regional NSW. His cross-disciplinary, community-engaged practice explores how art can participate in everyday cultural contexts. He co-founded Cementa Festival and the Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation, initiatives that embed contemporary art in real-world settings with social and cultural benefits. Wisser has delivered five Cementa festivals, supporting over 240 artists in socially engaged practices. Through KSCA, he works with farming communities to promote sustainable agriculture, helping shift public attitudes toward regenerative farming. His projects demonstrate art’s capacity to foster cultural change beyond traditional gallery spaces.

Andrew Bowman-Bright is based on Amangu country in Carnamah, where he is the local historian and an active worker for arts, culture and heritage organisation North Midlands Project.

Andrew Kaineder is an Australian film director and cinematographer who explores societal, environmental, and cultural issues through human stories, often using surfing as a lens. His acclaimed films, including The Man & The Sea, 2016; Beyond the Noise, 2019; and Mourning Country, 2021; have won multiple awards and gained global recognition.

Angela Dring was born in the Midwest of WA, educated, travelled and worked in community development, Angela Dring now resides and works with Roger, her husband and 3 adult children on their family broadacre farm, Lindum, in Carnamah. Angela is involved in her local community and is passionate about the natural environment and sharing their rural lifestyle with their farm stay guests.

Anna Nalpantidis is a creative producer and artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. With a particular focus in site-responsive and experimental work, she has directed, produced and curated works in chemical laboratory buildings, bathtubs in bookstores, community halls in regional towns, disused warehouses, shopping malls, quarries, vans, convents, libraries, theatres and galleries. Tina and her met via the interwebs and then realised they had many synchronicities including their Pontian-Greek heritage and interest in socially engaged practice. This is Anna’s first project working with bikes and horses.

Arts House produces and presents a year-round program of contemporary art and performance.

Breeze is an Australian Stock Horse, a Bay Mare standing at 15.2 hands and around thirty years old. She is the calmest horse in the Jocklebeart herd and has featured in several of Tina Stefanou’s works, from film to sculpture. Patient, generous, honest, gentle, and very trustworthy, with a kind nature, Breeze is the oldest in the herd and plays a special role in the group.

Brent Barlow, ‘I actually started out in commercial radio as a young announcer and learnt copywriting and production. In later years I became a journalist and worked for a number of publications across the region, including twenty five years as Rylstone Kandos district correspondent for the Mudgee Guardian and the Weekly. I’m the current editor of our monthly newsletter Community Capers. I became a member of KRR around 1995 and have been its president for many years. My weekly program on KRR - Morning Magazine focusses on news, interviews, local events and music. I’ve interviewed a lot of very interesting people over the years including many artists who always inspire me with their passion and commitment to their art or upcoming installations.’

Buster Rhythm is a 1b hands high twenty two year-old standardbred gelding, who lives at Jockleberry Farm with his herd of elderly companions. He has starred in four films: Horse Power, 2019; Wake for Horses, 2020; Hym(e)nals, 2023; and You Can’t See Speed, 2024. Calm yet highly responsive to changes in his environment, Buster is quiet enough for beginner riders and educated for more experienced riders. Buster works across both equine cinema and therapy.

Constantine (Kosta) Stefanou is a musician, arts organiser, and interdisciplinary researcher. He founded the Adelaide-based arts initiative MUD: Improvisation and Extended Domains, which promotes the work of experimental arts from across all performance disciplines; making parties, shows, publications and creative developments. His work in ecology, agronomy and the arts converge through research into eco-social rural arts practices, supporting biodiversity, agroecology, and cultural flourishing. He also makes delicate, obliterating, guitar music to take drugs too.

Cooper Fall graduating with a Bachelor in Creative Arts (Dance) in 2024, they’ve been dancing for almost sixteen years now. They love to combine their passion for writing and performance and they’re ready to share their wild imagination with audiences!

Callum G’Froerer is an Australian trumpet player and composer based in Narrm/Melbourne. Through improvisation, interpretation, and collaboration, he explores the expressive possibilities of unique trumpet techniques and treats the trumpet as an interface for combining and activating diverse materials.

Cassie Killick, a city chick with the soul of a country girl, resides in Carnamah. As the chef at One L of a Good Feed, her passion lies in delivering specialised cakes to rural areas, bringing joy and delicious creations to the community.

Celina Hage is an Australian/Norwegian movement artist whose practice encompasses performance, creation and teaching. With a focus on collaboration and energetic exchange through movement, her work champions the diverse interactions dance can create.

Cem Yıldız is a Naarm/Melbourne-based technician and installer with a visionary approach to problem-solving. Originally from Turkey, he has worked across contemporary art and museum industries while independently supporting local artists and friends. With a skill set that bridges both independent and corporate technical fields, Cem moves seamlessly between creative and professional spaces, bringing precision, adaptability, and a deep understanding of materials and mechanics to unique projects.

Cody Parker is seven years old (nearly eight) and was born in Geraldton, Western Australia. Cody loves living on a small farm with his animal siblings. He is truck mad and can educate anyone on the numerous set ups that trucks can come in. He loves his family and his favourite person in the whole world is his little brother Kane, who he delights in teaching bad habits. Cody has a vivid imagination and is great at drama and acting.Although sometimes unsure Cody will try new things and generally enjoys them. Cody wants to be a builder when he is older and to also start a band.

David Bowman-Bright heads up North Midlands Project, which works to foster healthy connected communities and vibrant liveable towns across the southern portion of Western Australia's Mid-West region.

Dr Donna Franklin is an artist, curator, lecturer and researcher. Her fungi and microbiological art politicizes living materials, advocating empathy for nonhuman ecologies. Her APA scholarship doctorate, 2017, extends these agendas in education and curation. Conducting her masters research at SymbioticA and ECU in 2004, she created a unique living fungi dress. She exhibits nationally and internationally. Selected exhibitions include: SUPERHUMAN, DeMonstrable, Textifood Milan, FuturoTextiles, ARS Electronica07, ENTRY06, Vitra Design Museum. She runs art-science workshops, and lectures at the School of Design, The University of Western Australia. She was recently awarded an artist residency at ARS Bioarctica, Kilpisjärvi Biological Research Station, Finland, 2024.

Eduardo Cossio is a Peruvian-Australian musician, photographer, and organiser based in Boorloo/Perth, Western Australia. Working across experimental music and sound-improvisation, Eduardo has written music for ensembles, film, and dance productions. He has toured Australia, Europe, and Taiwan and collaborated with artists such as Ross Bolleter, Jim Denley, Josten Myburgh, and Alice Hui-Sheng Chang. Eduardo is a prolific organiser, broadcaster, and writer in the Perth music scene. He runs the concert series Outcome Unknown; presents Difficult Listening on RTRFM 92.1; and his writing appears on local and national magazines. Eduardo has received the West Australian Music Industry Award for experimental music on several occasions and was nominated Industry Representative of the Year in 2018. His photography work has been the subject of three solo exhibitions, and his fiction documentary In The Thrall Of The Spirit was screened as part of Audible Edge Festival of Sound 2021.

Emily Shine is a twenty year old female, living at home in Hurstbridge. I found my voice through horses at the young age of 7 helping with pony rides and conversing with parents, members of the public and children. Gathering their trust through experience with the ponies. Learn to work with horses but share how to communicate and grow through the connection between horse and rider to young and upcoming riders. This work teaching children how to ride has allowed me to continue in my journey becoming a nurse and support worker for children. Through my gentle nature, I have found my calling, learning how to mould myself to support and comfort others as a safe space just like how horses have taught me how to adapt while growing up with their different personalities, histories, and past experiences just like the children I now work with.

Erin Davidson was Project Manager of Artistic Programs at the Art Gallery of South Australia from 2015 to 2024, and was responsible for delivering two of the country’s major biennial programs celebrating contemporary art and artists, the Ramsay Art Prize and the Adelaide Biennial Australian Art. Over the last decade, she has worked with South Australian cultural institutions and organisations in various roles. Currently, she holds the role of Production Manager, Visual Arts at Creative Australia.

Frankie Bowman is a child of Carnamah farming, skilled at singing 'Frankie Bowman had a farm' in the style of Old McDonald!

Finn Standfield, ‘Hi, I’m Finn. I am based in Kandos NSW, I work as a bartender, and I am interested in music and would like to learn graphic design.’

George Peters, ‘Born and raised in country Victoria between two family dairy farms until the age of eleven, I’ve always had a deep connection to nature. After two decades in Melbourne—where I got educated, married, raised a family, ran my own business, and consulted for government and private enterprises—I’ve returned to a small farm, where my heart belongs. I feel happiest growing my own food, reducing my environmental footprint, and writing and producing my own music. I’m passionate about good food, music, and especially laughter—one of those deep, uncontrollable laughs that leaves you unable to stand. I enjoy designing, building, and engineering everything from structures to tools, and there’s always something to do on the farm.’

George Stefanou, ‘I’m George Stefanou happily married to Sophie for forty years and I’m a proud father of three children Tina, Irene, Kosta and three beautiful grandchildren Kristina, Pauly and Sophia. Arrived from Trikalla Greece in 1968 aged ten years old with my parents and sister. I have studied Electronics, Computer hardware, music and Chinese massage. For many years I was involved in the Melbourne Greek music scene playing guitar at nightclubs and tavernas.’

Hamish Palmer is an experienced and dedicated gaffer and lighting technician, interested in creating more equitable and diverse teams within the film industry, while working on projects that bring him interest and joy.

Holly Clough, a university student studying science, lives in Diamond Creek and also works as a swimming teacher. She began riding with Sacajawea at Jocklebeary Farm when she was nine years old, and since then, her connection with horses has been deeply meaningful. Holly values the experience of learning to communicate with and understand horses, which has been a special part of her life, helping her build self-confidence along the way.

Irene Poutakidis, ‘In 1954 at thirteen years old, I migrated from Greece to Australia on a big passages ship, with my parents, two younger brothers and baby sister. My parents sent me to work straight away, so I never got a chance to go to school in Australia. I got married at sixteen years of age. I have three children, Sophie, George and Mary. In Feb 1969 my husband Sam died on the farm in a tracker accident at the age of thirty three. I was a widow at twenty seven years old with three children under eight. I went to work picking fruit, test driving cars, cutting men’s suits, knitwear pattern maker and cutter. I worked in factories and brought cutting work home and would work at night and on weekends to earn extra money whenever I could. I left knitwear factory work and went into food services in a local Age Care facility for the last five years of my working life. Retired at seventy-one and started travelling each year with first tour to thirteen European countries, then America (Los Vegas, Grand Canyon, New York, Washington, Canada and Alaska, Vietnam and Cambodia, Barcelona, Peru, Italy, Greece, Sri Lanka and around Australia. I am happiest when my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren come to my home for a dinner that I have prepared myself.’

Jade Porter, ‘I have been dancing for nearly fifteen years and have always been interested in finding creative ways to perform. I am excited to see what the future holds for exploring new ways to share stories and ideas.’

Jasmin Sekhon has been riding at Jocklebeary Farm since she was seven years old. now she facilities horse riding lessons and equine wellbeing for young people.

Jaydee Wilmot, based in Carnamah, has a passion for football, basketball, and gaming. Known for her infectious energy, she's the sunshine that brightens people’s days, even when they don't realize they need it.

Jazmine Deng is an early-career artist living on unceded Kaurna Country. She enjoys dancing, yoga and being really nice to herself.

Jazmyne Wilmot, based in Carnamah, is a young woman with big dreams of becoming a marine biologist. With a natural gift for connecting with animals, she’s known as the ‘animal whisperer.

Jaxon the horse, ‘Hi, my name is Jaxon. I am a nearly sixteen year old thoroughbred horse. I live on a rural property in the small country town of Carnamah with my paddock bestie, Wally and numerous other human and animal siblings. I was born to be a racehorse but my dislike of physical activity saw me not follow that career path. I came to my forever home at the age of 6 and have enjoyed the slower life here, with various outings and the opportunity to try new things, like crossing through puddles without them devouring me. I enjoy leisurely strolls up the paddock at dinner time and the occasional trip sightseeing around town. Sometimes when the mood strikes me, I like to pretend I am a famous racehorse and do mad zoomies in the paddock. I will do almost anything for a carrot including letting people dress me up in woolly masks.’

Jennifer Greer Holmes is a curator and creative producer of live art and experimental performance. She is the Artistic Director/CEO of Vitalstatistix in Yartapuulti/Port Adelaide and has enjoyed a twenty five year career working mostly with independent artists who push art form and test boundaries.

Jenny Hector is an award-winning designer whose mediums of light and space have been witnessed across live performance, music and installation. Her designs are driven by strong collaborations and the spaces they find themselves in.

Jenny Hickinbotham, ‘Mental health is often framed as fearful yet ‘controllable’ through drugs and psychiatric narratives that dismiss personal beliefs as hallucinations. My work, including Songs of My Adventures and research inspired by neuroscientists like Antonio Damasio, challenges this model by highlighting how trauma, abuse, and neglect shape mental health conditions.’

Jessica Parker is over forty years old and was born in Perth, Western Australia. She is pictured here with her father, Peter. Jessica and her husband own just over forty acres in Carnamah on which they live with their two sons (Cody & Kane), plus an assortment of animals. Jessica loves her family, animals and living in the countryside. She currently works for the local accountant and has spent over thirteen years previously in Local Government. She also had an interesting stint working on an ostrich farm. She is currently Treasurer of the Local Daycare and likes to help out where she can. In her spare time she enjoys trying new things and taking her horse, Jaxon, out for some exercise and moseying around town. Jessica wanted to be a vet when she grew up.

John O'Connor (1934–2021) was a distinguished academic and environmentalist, serving as the director of the Environmental Studies Centre at Phillip Institute (now part of RMIT University). Throughout his career, he led various research consultancies and lectured in environmental science studies, with a particular passion for geological science and astronomy. His work had a lasting impact on the field, shaping environmental research and education during his time at the institution. His favourite saying was ‘In the Vastness of Space and the immensity of time, it has been my privilege to share an instant with you’ - Carl Sagan.

José Da Silva has twenty five years of curatorial and management experience in art museums and private and public sector environments. Since early 2018, he has been the Director of Sydney’s UNSW Galleries, overseeing a dynamic program of contemporary Australian art and design. He is also the Chair of University Art Museums Australia, driving advocacy and research for art museums and galleries in the Australian university sector. Previously, he led the Australian Cinémathèque¾an international market leader for presenting moving image and media art¾and contributed to an ambitious program of exhibitions, acquisitions, and projects at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art for over a decade. He contributed to curatoriums for the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018, and curated the major exhibitions David Lynch: Between Two Worlds, 2015; and Earth and Elsewhere, 2013.

Joseph Franklin is a composer and bassist from Gunaikurnai country in regional Australia, currently based between Philadelphia (USA) and Narrm/Melbourne (AU). His wide-ranging compositional practice combines formal and spontaneous modalities, drawing from experimental music, sound art, instrument design, and foregrounds a distinctive approach to instrumentality.

Joshua Harris is a piano accompanist for the Western Australian Opera.

Julie Franklin has spent her entire life in the Latrobe Valley region. Born deaf at Yallourn Hospital, she was raised by her father, a bulldozer operator at the open-cut coal mine, and her mother, a maternity nurse. Recently retired from a career as a mental health nurse at Traralgon Hospital, Julie also dedicated a decade to mime performance at her local church. She starred in Tina’s 2022 art film Miming for Mines: You Can't Hear Faith and is an avid patchwork quilt maker.

Jun Zhang, born in China, holds a Bachelor Degree in Music Education from HeNan University, China, a Master of Music and a Post Graduate Diploma in Arts Management from the West Australian Conservatorium. In 2010 Jun Zhang joined the West Australian Opera Company where his performances included Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, La Sonnumbula, Elektra, Madama Butterfly, also performed the role of Borsa in Rigoletto, Giuseppe in La Traviata, 2012 and Gastone in La Traviata, 2019.

Kandos Rylstone Community RadioInc’s first test transmission took place in January 1994. After transmitting from many locations we purchased our own premises at 50 Angus Ave in June 1998 and began broadcasting full time 24 hours a day on September 13, 2001. All our members are volunteers and we have become an important part of our community. We support many organisations and groups across the region and we have been a strong supporter of Cementa since its very first festival.

Kane Parker is three years old and was born in Geraldton, Western Australia. After a bumpy start to life, Kane has flourished and lets nothing hold him back. He is a real country lad who loves nothing more than trucks and getting dirty. He always speaks his mind and his favourite person in the whole world is his big brother Cody, who he delights in roughing up. He is willing to try most things and is not afraid of anything. Kane wants to be a tow truck driver when he is older.

Kaz Rogers, ‘Hi, my name is Kaz Rogers I am a nineteen year old who has a passion in the performing arts. I recently completed study at the Adelaide college of the arts with a certificate 4 in music performance as a vocalist. I am hoping to continue studying music in the future as well pursue a career in acting.’

Keiana Lodge Alpacas, operated by Dianna Rutter, is located in Running Stream, NSW. The lodge has been featured in publications, with mentions in the July 2015 edition of the Knitters Guild NSW magazine. Dianna is a breeder of alpacas and creates a variety of handmade items such as knitted, crocheted, needle-felted, and nuno-felted pieces from the fleece of her beautiful alpaca companions.

Kristina Dimarelos is a fifteen year-old based in Melbourne who loves playing soccer with her friends. She has featured in many of her Aunty Tina’s projects, including a performance in 2019 where she participated in a performative herd, moving around a space with others and vocalising sounds inspired by herd creatures.

Kristina Susnjara is a non-practicing multidisciplinary artist practising on Gadigal Land. Their work is process driven, often using mediums such as video, sculpture and photography to explore areas of fragility and tension within our physical realities and inner worlds. She also a buyer and dresser for film productions. They have a BFA in Visual Art from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney.

Lily May Potger is a multidisciplinary artist and Company Artist at Australasian Dance Collective, with a background in dance, textiles, costume design, sculpture, music, and sound. Their practice combines intuitive creativity with community engagement, developing innovative works and teaching methodologies through long-term collaboration.

Lisa Salvo is a songwriter and performing artist based in Naarm/Melbourne with a skill for bringing experiences of grief and repair into poetic song form. She fronts experimental pop band On Diamond, whose self-titled debut record was nominated for The Australian Music Prize and Music Victoria Awards’ Best Album. It was also Album of the Week on Triple R, 4ZZZ, and PBS, and was included in PBS’ Top Ten Albums of 2019. Salvo has performed with award-winning theatre company Four Larks in Los Angeles and Melbourne at venues including The Getty Villa and Malthouse Theatre. Locally, she has performed with Grand Salvo, Laura Jean, Evelyn Ida Morris, and Ajak Kwai. In 2014, Salvo released her album I Could Have Been a Castle and was shortlisted for the APRA/AMCOS Vanda and Young International Songwriting Competition.

Louisa Cole, ‘My name is Louisa Cole, I come from a long line of immigrants, and am an immigrant myself now, from Aotearoa/New Zealand, now residing in beautiful Western Australia. I love spending time outdoors and making memories with my fav people (and dog, Sasha), learning about culture and family histories, and finding out the amazing, pivotal events that make a person who they are and the night sky of the Australian outback.

Marcell Billinghurst, ‘my name is Marcell Billinghurst, and I grew up in Collie, Western Australia, developing a love for reading at age 10. I began writing poetry in 1987, with my first poem, Somebody Cares, published in Christian Woman Magazine, leading me to join a local writers' group in Busselton. While there, I also pioneered a quarterly church booklet, Blessings, and documented community stories, including one that became a eulogy. After moving to Carnamah in 2011, I became involved in community activities, and run the Scribes of the North Midlands. It is here where I met and participated in Tina Stefanou’s film’s and performances Back-Breeding, 2023 and The Ball, 2023.’

Maree Tobin has been a passionate dancer for four years in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, Hip Hop and Contemporary dance styles. She also performs in vocal and Musical Theatre productions.

Mary (Poutakidis) Kent was born in Melbourne 1964 to Greek migrant parents. Lived through the ‘wog’ and ‘skippy’ days that were the 1970s and 80s. Studied Art at RMIT and then jumped into mainstream advertising as a junior copywriter and ended up as Production and Account manager. Started a small advertising and desktop publishing business. Managed a post production audio studio in South Melbourne for a couple of years and did a bit of business communication consulting. Published an original book with my partner Peter on the theme of meditation, To The Moment Went A Traveller, and currently working on the audio-book version. Interested in humanity’s history, story telling, spirituality, psychology, philosophy, meditation and the holistic voice, and have undertaken studies in these areas. Highlights: Swimming with dolphins, standing on an active volcano, listening to psychic children speak on the Big Island of Hawaii, meditating for five days in Oregon USA, travelling into the outback, SA, NT and WA and living in Darwin for five months.

Matthew Cassar, born on May 14, 1976, began his career as a plasterer. He is a dedicated father to two children, Celina and Cindy. Despite the complete loss of his eyesight due to degeneration, Matthew has maintained his passion for motorcycles. He not only rides but also restores them, showing remarkable resilience and determination. In addition to his achievements in motorcycle restoration, Matthew is set to showcase his skills in an art performance and collaboration at Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, a project that aims to highlight his unique strengths and adaptability. His story continues to inspire many as he breaks barriers and challenges perceptions.

Michael Turner, known as Mikey, hails from England, now calls Western Australia home, works on Prowaka Spring Farm in Carnamah.

Miranda Johnson is a curator and writer based in Boorloo/Perth. She is currently the Public Program & Studio Manager at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and a Curator for SPACED. She was previously Chairperson and a founding member of Cool Change Contemporary (2018-21), and director of Moana Project Space (2017-19), both artist-run initiatives. Miranda graduated from Goldsmiths University, London with a Masters with Distinction in Contemporary Art Theory in 2015.

Mitchell O’Hearn, ‘is a writer, (film)maker, baker. It’s a dizzying combination of practices, but somehow they all work together like fizzing enzymes breaking down starches into sugars and feeding yeast to make flavour and gas. Formally trained in narrative video creation, both fiction and non, Mitchell loves storytelling. Humans make great characters, horses even better. His films have played at international festivals like SXSW, his poems published and his bread savoured from Melbourne to the far NE of NSW.’

Morawa District High Brass Band, is the only Public School Brass Band in Western Australia, has a long and proud history spanning over fifty years.

Nick Steele is an Australian-based location sound recordist, who works primarily on Kaurna Country. He has worked across many mediums but has specialised in narrative and Feature film work for the last fifteen years. In 2024 he won an AACTA for best sound for his work recording the feature film, ‘Talk to Me’.

Octopus, tuna and sardines purchased from Preston Seafood, which is run by the Valls family who have been serving seafood since the Preston Market first opened.

Otis Filley is a documentary filmmaker and journalist documenting stories across regional Australia. His work focuses on environmental and social justice narratives, exploring the intersection of community, place, and cultural heritage.

Owain James, ‘My name is Owain James. I am eighty two years old, our family is of Welsh origins, but I have lived in Rylstone, NSW for most of my life. I enjoy painting, theatre as a spectator and as a performer, and principally singing. I sing tenor with 2 choirs, Wollemi Singers, at Kandos, and Cudgegong Choir, Mudgee. It was at a Wollemi Singers that I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Tina Stefanou.’

Patrick Hase is an artist and researcher, mainly doing digital interaction and system design for experimental audio/visual internet stuff. He likes to collaborate with others, usually to make playful websites that explore abstracted virtual spaces.

Peter Kent, ‘My English family emigrated to Australia in 1970 when I was eight. At fifteen, I joined the Navy as an officer cadet and experienced four years in a military environment. I then worked three years as a solo singer-guitarist, followed by some acting in TV, film and theatre, alongside song writing, and also discovered meditation, which radically changed my life. Married partner Mary in 1992, and we ran our own desktop publishing business for several years, before I became a freelance voice-over artist for eighteen years. I have spent much of my life pursuing my curiosity around ‘personal development’ related areas, such as meditation and psychology, and vocal work and sound healing, and have been developing original projects on these themes, such as a book that’s a rhyming short story on meditation, and a program on sound, voice, and breath.

Petra Leslie is an award-winning cinematographer based in Ngár-go/Fitzroy, Melbourne. She works across narrative, documentary, and video art, with her projects showcased at major festivals and in renowned galleries and public art commissions.

Pia Harris is an international soprano and conductor based in Perth, Australia, with training from the Royal College of Music, English National Opera, and the National Opera Studio. She has performed with Opera Holland Park, New York Lyric Opera, and West Australian Opera, and is Director of Music at Breaksea, where she produces and performs large-scale projects like The Magical Weedy Seadragon, 2024.

Richelle Essers calls Carnamah home with her husband Dave and two sons, Program Manager for North Midlands Project.

Robert Cameron is a Melbourne based writer, director and cinematographer who specialises in creating evocative character portraits.

Romanie Harper is a designer living on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nations.

Rose Williams is a graphic designer and illustrator. She has worked on various projects across print, wine and food. She has worked with All Are Welcome, ST. ALi, Frances Hadid, Joseph Franklin & Kit Iacuzi.

Sacajawea lives on a rural property in Cottlesbridge and has always worked with horses and ponies, which been her educational, therapeutic and healing companions. She shares the magic of equine therapy by mentoring others and facilitating pony rides and handling skills to young children, teenagers and adults. Sacajawea is an advocate for the healing properties of nature and communicating through voice and body language.

Sahara Soliman, ‘I am based in Adelaide, South Australia, and have been dancing since a young age. In my hopes to become a performer, I am keeping up with my studies of the performing arts, whilst completing year nine at Seaview High. I hope to one day inspire and bring joy to others with the career path I have chosen. I absolutely loved being a part of Tina’s beautiful artwork and enjoyed getting to know the other amazing performers. This was an experience I will look back on for a long time and I am so grateful for such a wonderful opportunity.’

Sarah Walker is a Naarm/Melbourne-based artist, writer and researcher. Her work uses comedy and surprise to address anxiety, intimacy and control. Her debut book, 'The First Time I Thought I Was Dying' won the 2021 Quentin Bryce Award, and her work has been programmed, published and awarded both nationally and internationally. She is a current PhD candidate at RMIT.

Scarlett Jankowiak, ‘I'm passionate about singing, dancing, and all things theatre. I live for the dream, my dream of becoming something big in the theatre world! It's something that's made me happy ever since I was seven years old when I started doing what I love. I loved these performances as they taught me more about myself and helped open my world by showing me things through a new perspective.’

Scott Bowman is a farmer of Prowaka Spring Farm in Carnamah, fourth-generation farmer with his wife Catie and daughter Frankie.

Saxophonist Scott McConnachie is one of Australia’s most compelling improvising musicians. With a performing career spanning three decades, he has developed a highly personal sound and approach. Scott has worked extensively with guitarist Ren Walters in their duo Prime. They have released albums Self Titled 2019; 11 11 11, 2011; Motive, 2013; and Prime Live (SoundOut Recordings), 2019. He released Rock Dog with guitarist Carl Dewhurst and drummer Simon Barker in 2019 after being awarded the Moreland City Band Improvisation and New Music Award. In 2020 he released a duo album The Scotts with trumpeter Scott Tinkler. Scott has performed alongside many of Australia’s improvising artists including Anthony Pateras, Ritchie Daniel, Jack Richardson, Jackie Marshall, Erkki Veltheim, the Australian Art Orchestra, Dure Dara, David Tolley, Jenny Barnes; and has toured Japan as a saxophonist with drummer Shoji Hano, in trio with Joe Talia and Hiroki Chiba. Scott also plays guitar and synth with experimental pop band On Diamond.

Regional writing group Scribes of North Midlands meets at The Exchange in Carnamah fortnightly on a Thursday. With support from the North Midlands Project, Scribes of North Midlands has initiated Life and Times in the North Midlands, a community storytelling project set to launch in 2025. We have also collaborated with artist Tina Stefanou during her Rural Utopia residency, participating in creative projects like The Ball, film and a community event where our writers' group performed poetry. It was an honour to work with Tina, whose friendship and artistic contributions have enriched our community.

Seb Essers lives in Carnamah with his parents and brother, youngest team member of North Midlands Project assisting with the delivery of arts and creative workshops, events and exhibition launches.

Siobhan Berry lives in Three Springs, works for North Midlands Project helping run its creative and community space The Exchange in Carnamah and assisting artists-in-residence.

Sophia Stefanou, ‘I was born in Melbourne and lived in my early years about three years old in Fitzroy in City. Grow up in Wattle Glen in the 1960’s on the family farm. Left high school at year nine worked as a legal clerk until my late teens Then worked at an advertising agency as a media assistant. Mid 20s got married had three children continue to follow some of my passions and became a make up artist/florist. Ran my own cleaning business and worked at my children’s school in the after-care department. Once my children Were in high school, I started working as an insurance broker for a period of twelve years then became a grandmother and decided it was time to help my daughter and enjoying my grandchildren my passions are dancing reading travelling photography walking gardening, cooking and watching old classic movies and of course entertaining and cooking for my family.’

Sophia-Jorge Dimarelos is thirteen years old and is based in Bullen. She has a strong passion for spending time with her friends and family. In the future, Sophia hopes to pursue a career in family law, specifically assisting children. She has been involved in several creative projects with her Aunty Tina, featuring in more than two films.

SPACED is the longest-running residency program in Australia. SPACED (formerly International Art Space) was established in 1998 by a team of farmers and art professionals to create a new context and audience for contemporary art, inviting artists to live and work in regional communities for extended periods. Its projects have engaged many of Australia’s most significant contemporary artists as well as international artists from across the world. SPACED is recognised for its unique work in creating new audiences for contemporary art and challenging artists to embed themselves in the social fabric of a regional area, creating meaningful and lasting relationships between communities and visiting artists who participate in community-led activities, creative collaborations and produce new works which contextualise local issues for global audiences.

Steve Berrick is an artist and creative coder. His works are software driven experiences for interactive systems and performance; sometimes visual; sometimes aural; sometimes informative. He enjoys process, collaboration and presenting projects to audiences in galleries, theatres, museums and the street. Steve is an artist with the ololo art collective.

Tara O’Conal is an artist and curator based between Adelaide and Melbourne. Tara’s research examines lineages of contemporary video art, a thesis initiated through her MFA at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2019. She works with video, printmaking, photography, and text, interweaving these mediums to create hybrid images. Through documentation of everyday phenomena, Tara explores the dynamics of abstraction and representation, subjectivity and the gaze.

Tanika Mathews, ‘I am Tanika. I am a sixteen year old with a vibrant and energetic personality. I have been around horses counting back fourteen years. Horses have helped me flourish connections and become a problem solver with intuitive and meticulous thinking. I am a gymnast of fourteen years as well, which has developed my balance and grown my devoted and ambitious values. Others describe me as reliable, witty and cheerful as well as versatile and flexible. Horses have shaped who I am and have made me a more rounded person with a deeper connection with myself and my body.

The Boral Wollert Quarry was established in 1971 as a hard rock quarry. West of the quarry pit, Boral operates a quarry processing plant and concrete batching plant. These aggregates provide the base material to produce concrete, asphalt and other items commonly used in building and construction applications (including roads). The quarry's relatively close location in relation to the Melbourne CBD has allowed it to make a substantial contribution to the city's skyline over time.

Tim Harvey is a Melbourne based musician, composer, songwriter, producer and engineer. Tim Wreyford began his career working at post houses in Sydney, before successfully branching-out as a freelance colourist, working with production houses and their ad agency clients on major advertising campaigns for blue chip brands such as Kia, BMW, Toyota, Audi, Hyundai, Jaguar, Dell, Red Bull, Japan Airway’s, Jacob’s Creek, Airbnb and Asics, to name just a few, along with music videos, documentaries, short films and independent features. Tim has a passion for colour and beautiful imagery and thrives on the collaborative process between director, DoP, agency and client. These days Tim works remotely from his grading suite based on a secluded part of the NSW coast North of Sydney.

Tom Denize is an emerging artist originally hailing from The Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa, now based in Naarm/Melbourne and currently undertaking a Master of Fine Arts at Melbourne University. Utilising instillation, video and photographic methods Tom’s practice is primarily concerned with queer theologies and temporalities, and how these things can reframe understandings of place, memory and desire.

Tom Goodman uses images and video to explore the short yet sweet hours of the entertainment world. Through this haze, an affection for the characters he encounters appears. Tom also frequently collaborates with the Naarm/Melbourne based collective Pacemakers.

Wayne Sullivan is the CEO of Positive Throttle and is Matthew Cassar’s riding coach. Wayne is extremely passionate about facilitation and fostering humans to meet their potential. Really he just loves seeing people happy!

Wendy Williams is a Kandos-based community radio host, retired alpaca breeder, and former expert commentator for International Lawn Bowls on ABC TV Sport. She hosts a weekly three-hour program on KRR Community Radio 98.7 FM and has been an active participant in community arts events, including the Cementa Festival. During Cementa, Wendy took part in The Longest Hum on Angus Avenue and welcomed artists into her home for creative exchanges. With a strong connection to local farming networks, Wendy has also facilitated connections within the alpaca breeding community.

Wild Rabbit.This rabbit was killed under a pest management system in Nillumbik/Wattle Glen. All of its materials were used in the making and feeding of the artist’s work.

Wil Normyle is a Naarm/Melbourne-based cinematographer working with both digital and analogue moving image. His passion lies in the technical process of translating performative and narrative storytelling into visual compositions…a full-time camera and cinema nerd.

Wren Richards is a workshop facilitator and illustrator; she is an educator at DADAA mentoring and teaching art to people with disabilities and complex mental health issues.

Victoria Mackay, ‘I was born on Kaurna land, nestled in the vibrant heart of South Australia, a place that has deeply shaped my sense of connection and creativity. From a young age, I’ve been drawn to the arts; photography, music, and poetry are my outlets for self-expression and exploration. Academically, I’ve strived to balance my creative passions with my ambitions. I’m proud to have received merit in AIF for my photography and hope to continue my photography into the future. Currently in Year Twelve, I am navigating the challenges and opportunities of daily life, with every step taking me closer to achieving my goal of pursuing a career in medicine.

Yeliz Selvi is a Melbourne-born creative and journalism enthusiast of Turkish heritage. After five years immersed and working as a bilingual public programmer in Istanbul’s contemporary art, culture, and museum scene, she returned to Naarm/Melbourne to reset community roots within the youth mental health sector. Passionate about storytelling, connection, and supporting friends and creative voices doing invaluable work, Yeliz bridges her various worlds with a thoughtful and grounded approach.

Zac Millner-Cretney is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary content producer, specialising in film editing. His career is centred around anti-oppression politics, having worked with a wide range of activist and advocacy groups both within Australia and internationally. He recently co-edited the Screen Australia-funded feature documentary Things Will Be Different, produced in collaboration with residents of public housing in Victoria. He is currently teaching film studies and filmmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Zahli Jimeno’s passion for creating has always been present throughout her life, whether it be through performing, painting, makeup, writing poems, and fashion. From the age of two she has been dancing on stage (Calisthenics), and putting on theatrical performances with friends. On the flip side, she has always had a love for horses because of their understanding, trusting and calm nature. She found great companions with the animals and found joy through horse riding and feeling supported by the people around her. Zahli also pursues cheerleading and often compares it to horse riding, as there is a thrill of being up high and having to rely on trust and senses. These two very similar passions has increased her confidence and overall wellbeing greatly, and Zahli is excited for what the future holds.