Firstdraft

Residue 12 December 2025 - 31 January 2026. Artists: Mia Boe, d harding & Sha Sarwari. Firstdraft, Woolloomooloo, Australia. @firstdraft_ Residue, curated by Georgia Boe as a part of Firstdraft’s First Nations Curator Program, brings together the practices of three artists at different stages of their careers, working in diverse ways with charcoal. What emerges from this assemblage of works is how charcoal becomes a meeting point—not just as material, but as a site of radical transformation and persistent communication. Artwork: d harding, Moreton Bay Ash branch smoulders slowly, 2020, Two-channel video, audio 00:19:26 duration, looped. Courtesy of the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. @milanigallery Exhibition photos Jessica Maurer. Roomsheet: /static/5bee42891aef1dba9435f57b/t/693a5012ff123e2caecab8c1/1765429268410/2025+Roomsheets_December_January.pdf @geor.giaboe @firstdraft_ @mia.khin.boe @shasarwari

🗯️ Applications open! 🗯️⁠ ⁠ 2026 ACE x @firstdraft_ Short-term Residency⁠ ⁠ The 2026 ACE x @firstdraft_ Short-term Residency offers one South Australian artist the opportunity to develop and present a solo exhibition at firstdraft, Sydney. The artist will receive a 3-month studio residency at ACE⁠ This residency is best suited to artists with a specific project ready for interstate presentation.⁠ ⁠ Applications close: Monday 8 June 11:59pm (ACDT)⁠ ⁠ ⁠To learn about the opportunity (including eligibility and FAQs) & apply, visit the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ ⁠ –⁠ ⁠ Image: Shaye Dương, 'Telesm' (2022), installation view, firstdraft, Sydney. Courtesy firstdraft. Photography by Jessica Maurer.

‘Arunan’s World’ Digital animation ‘Arunan’s World’ is the first animation of the lively, lovingly-crafted digital drawings of Arunan Dharmalingam. @arunand_dot_com has developed his iconic farm scenes over a number of years, progressively adding more detail, scenery and animals to build upon the farmyard story. Central to the composition is a horse, sheltering a baby rhino, which both eat the fruits of an overarching banana tree. A small group of chickens characterise the scene, scurrying in and around the trees and animals, laying eggs. The other animals eat happily and join in a cacophony of farm animal sounds. On the right side of the scene two white ducks and two black fish splash in unison in a pond. The scene is rich with symbolic imagery of provision and harmony - and yet wonderfully free and naive in its delivery. Directed by Zachariah Fenn - @zfenndelberg and digitally animated for the first time by David Lobb - @lovedav.id , Arunan’s farm finally bursts to its’ fullest expression of life yet, as we step into Arunan’s world. You can catch Arunan’s work at ‘Moving in (the next world)’ with @firstdraft_ until 16 May

𝚂𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚎 — 𝙰𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚢 Opening Friday 10th of April at First Draft @firstdraft_ curated by me! Small Frame embodies the materiality and intuition of experimental animation filmmaking, through multi channel, multi genre and multi frame processes in physical space. Grateful to include an expansive group of artists working in this field including Quinn Franks @proceduralgunk Milly Yencken @milly.yencken Eleanor Evans @eleanor.giovanni Tiff Yue @tiff._.yue & Jent Do @jentxmgtd Artist talk on April 11th 1:30-4pm come see us discuss film lists, booklists, animation trade tools & that feeling when you work till you die to get a frame done and why! 🫣 Animation by @eleanor.giovanni

Exhibitions in Sydney this week! ✨️ Featured: Peter Gardiner: Dead Reckoning Opening Thursday 9 April 6–8 PM @nandahobbs Peter Gardiner Beacon 7, 2026 Oil on canvas 80 x 65cm

Some good reasons to take a few extra days off this month ⛱️

Hi! come join us as we celebrate our second exhibition with @firstdraft_ ☂️🌵 ‘Moving in (the next world)’ Opening: Friday April 10, 6–8pm 13–17 Riley St, Woolloomooloo C U THERE ! ❤️ ꧁꧂ Moving in (the next world) builds on our online exhibition with Firstdraft, bringing the work into a shared physical space. This exhibition shifts focus from individual practices to collaboration. Artists come together to shape the gallery as a space to live in, not just exhibit within. Painting, textile, sculpture, video, sound and installation come together to form an environment shaped by the relationships between artists. “Moving in” also speaks to the idea of creating a temporary home. A space to gather, to make, and to exist together. ꧁꧂ Artwork ID: Silly Billy 2 by Chloë Abdelnour - @chloeabdelnour Bubble Wrap, Assorted Textiles, Plastic Waste, Silk and Merino Yarn, Cotton Thread, Recycled Timber Frame 62 × 84 × 5 cm Made in response to landscape painter Mathew Elliott - @mattelliott80 , Silly Billy 2 reimagines plastic and textile waste as the raw material for an otherworldly landscape. A recycled timber frame was hand-built into a loom, warped with cotton and woven with lovingly collected fragments: bubble wrap, lace, floral fabric, ribbon, tulle, sequins and found plastic. The result is something between a painting and a textile, where florals and fish coexist in a layered, tactile world. Each element is precariously placed, in careful conversation with each other. The work is as much about what these materials were as what they have now become, accumulated over years and destined to be together. Thinking about nature, waste and new possibility, Silly Billy 2 adorns with value what was once discarded.

West Space is pleased to announce 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗸𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘂𝗻 (NSW) as the recipient of a 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 📣 West Space Commissions are an investment in artists and their practice development, providing support across the development, presentation and communication of ambitious new work. The program is a supportive space for experimentation and building sector connections. 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗸𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘂𝗻’s practice celebrates ancestral resilience rooted in her Barkindji, Malyangapa, Romanian, and Austrian background. As an Aboriginal woman and second-generation “Australian,” Craciun explores the relationship between personal narratives and broader historical contexts, and the way histories of migration, colonisation, and belonging shape not only individual lives but collective memory, identity and intergenerational love. Selected through a competitive nation-wide open call, Jasmine has begun mentorship with our team as we look towards 2027 💗 __ @jasmine_craciun Images: Jasmine Miikika Craciun photographed by Gillian Kayrooz; installation detail, 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, @bankstownartscentre , 2025, photography by Jessica Paraha; 𝘈 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 2024, video, stained glass windows, Wilcannia sand, found tin @firstdraft_

👋🏻 Bye 👋🏻 @firstdraft_ - thanks for having @oliverhullllll and I - thanks to @whatanoddremark , @ferguskbg and @hjsdv for caring for our work

Isabella Kennedy: Ballast 🌊💙

Hello everyone! First of all, sending big hugs and beams of care to you all during these heavy times. Go gently with your days & take care of yourselves and each other.  Here are some FYIs/team shoutouts as well as the latest artist programs and opportunities for you to check out. 𑁍ࠬܓ°❀.࿔ 🪱 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 is running from March 4th to April 15th 2026 at Fairfield City HQ! It's all about tending to the soil of your writing practice. For the full details and to register your attendance, please head here: .au/project/everything-is-writing 🌟 The upcoming group exhibition opening for 𝘞𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 is happening on Saturday April 11, 2026 from 1-4pm at Fairfield City Museum & Gallery. We are proud to be one of the collaborators! Entry is free, but registration is required. Please head here: .au/e/we-are-here-exhibition-launch-tickets-1985021695326 ✨ ...and plenty more from our friends like @pyt_fairfield & @fairfieldcitymuseumgallery ! Swipe through to learn more & make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and artists email for more detailed info & roundups like this! Link in bio or reach out to [email protected] if you'd like to sign up. 💌 Image descriptions are embedded within the alt text sections of the graphics. #CuriousWorks #WesternSydney #ArtistOpps