Regional Arts Australia (RAA) have announced the 13 practitioners to make up the inaugural cohort of Regional Assembly. The Assembly is an artist-led online studio program connecting cultural practitioners working in regional and remote areas across Asia-Pacific. The practitioners include:
- Uzma Falak | Kashmir
- Sarah Last | NSW
- Mohit Shelare | India
- Zoe Scoglio | VIC
- Karen Mills | NT
- Desna Whaanga-Schollum | Aotearoa (New Zealand)
- Hana Pera Aoake | Aotearoa (New Zealand)
- Katie Breckon | WA
- Lia Pa’apa’a | QLD
- Justy Phillips and Margaret Woodward | TAS
- Leecee Carmichael | QLD
Sarah Last, who lives and works on Wiradjuri Country in Muttama south west NSW, is notably the standout NSW representative. Having spent the past 20+ years working as an artist, curator, NFP administrator and grazier, Sarah has honed a specialisation in convergent arts practice incorporating interdisciplinary arts of sound, Community Cultural Development (CCD), experimental, relational and participatory art forms.
Having participated in the Wagga Space Program’s ‘Unsound’ festivals in 2003, 2004 and 2006 Sarah has also dipped her toe into the ‘Southern Encounter’ project (2012) which was presented at the RAA’s Kumuwuki national arts festival and with Chris Watson and David Burraston for ‘Hrafn: Conversations with Odin’ which was presented in 2019 at Dark Mofo.