Hi all,
Winter has been a big, busy, and warm time in the CuriousWorks world. Our team recently expanded with William Uy Vu Le joining us as our 2026 Createability Intern as well as Fei Gao, Tala Issaoui, Liliana Occhiuto, Esky Escandor, and Shyamla Eswaran coming in as our Future Culture 2026 - 2027 cohort.
So naturally, it was time for us to get some new team photos and headshots! Shoutout to local talented photographer Dylan Mangunay for capturing this for us. It was a fun day as we shot around the local Fairfield area, and braved the winter winds together. Check out our new photos here.
Curious about what else we’ve been up to? Read on…
Future Culture 2026 - 2027 cohort
How do you build a more relevant, equitable, sustainable and future-focused arts culture? You invest time and money in the people; and you create multi-directional opportunities for sharing, learning and growing relationships. Future Culture is a program from CuriousWorks that aims to do all of that.
It pairs an artist residency program with an arts worker development program, embedding all the creatives in the company’s operations to benefit the artists, arts workers, and the organisation symbiotically; and in turn to nurture sector development and foster sustainability for the community arts and cultural development sector.
The Future Culture 2026 - 2027 cohort is:
Artists in Residence: Fei Gao & Tala Issaoui
Creative Producer Intern: Liliana Occhiuto
Arts Leadership Interns: Esky Escandor & Shyamla Eswaran
Origin Story in collaboration with Milk Crate Theatre
Calling curious minds of all kinds! Have you been feeling blah, overworked, and stuck in a creative rut? Keen to build new skills, confidence, and friendships? Well, folks, gather around because we have a program just for YOU!
Enter: Origin Story.
This 6-week creative program is an all-abilities, no-experience necessary course that will unearth your artistic impulses. Origin Story is a free program, open to everyone including people who identify as neurodiverse or disabled or d/Deaf.
During these workshops, you’ll spend time with professional artists and learn all their tips and tricks. Whether you want to write, dance, act or just get in the room and start making something, we’ve got you covered!
From comic book heroes to grand odysseys to family journeys, we are constantly surrounded by stories that inspire, challenge, and push us. This program is about recognising, championing, and unleashing your inner storyteller. All ideas weird and wonderful are welcome!
When we create our own worlds, we empower our reality. So show up and see where your creativity takes you!
Where: Fairfield City HQ
When: Every Tuesday, from September 8th - October 13th 2026 + October 15 (rehearsal) + 16 (scratch night)
Time: 2PM - 4PM
Cost: Free
Dear Brain Dump Diaries: Junk Journalling Workshops
Need a fun antidote to screen overload? A place to hang out with other local creatives and go back to a simpler time? Dear Brain Dump Diaries is your space to let your creativity lead while your brain takes a well-earned breather.
Come solo or bring a pal! Co-led by Miranda Aguilar and Kirsten Maglalang, These workshops are open to everyone who wants to collage, create and fill up their journals while having conversations (or not) about whatever is cluttering their minds. No to pressure or perfection. Yes to good company and craft!
All materials provided, but feel free to bring your own receipts, fruit stickers, postcards – whatever pretty junk you’d like to reuse.
Where: Fairfield City HQ
When: Saturday. September 12th, October 10th & November 14th 2026
Time: 2PM - 4PM
Cost: Free
HOLDING SPACE Showcases - Save the Dates
In response to theme of Rituals of Reciprocity – Land and Water, the HOLDING SPACE 2026 artists have been running workshops and creating artistic works across various creative mediums including visual art, film, and performance. The works are all centred around sharing cultural and creative ideas, experiences, intercultural understandings and learnings centred around stewardship of the planet and community connectedness.
Keep an eye on our website and social channels for more information on when you can view and experience the works. Save the following dates.
- Exhibition: 24th October - 9th November 2026 Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown, Sydney
- Showcase at Sydney Opera House: Sunday 1st November 2026
- Community Celebration Event at SSI’s Community Refugee Welcome Centre: Saturday 21st November 2026
CuriousWorks – more news
Alongside Bankstown Arts Centre, CuriousWorks is proud to be a partner on Backstage Music’s AZIMUTH: Navigating Sound and Space program. Learn more about the program including the selected artists and upcoming showcase event here.
Make sure that you follow us on our social media (LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook) to keep up to date with all things CuriousWorks!
- We're proud to be supporting Azimuth - Navigating Sound & Place – a project presented by BackStage Music and curated by Isabella Rahme. We're inviting artists from Western Sydney who are interested in creating and experimenting with music-based art to engage with the concept of ‘navigating sound & place’. How this looks is up to you, and the more experimental the better. EOIs are open until Sunday 14 June 2026 at 11:59pm. For the full details and to apply, please click here.
- Last but not least, a huge congratulations to our wonderful founder S Shakthidharan on receiving the $250,000 Windham-Campbell Prize! Read about it here.
CuriousWorks exists at the intersection between contemporary multi-arts practice and community arts and cultural development. Since our inception, our mission and values remain unwavering – to help build a fair, inclusive, equitable, innovative arts landscape that reflects the plurality and complexity of lived experience in contemporary Australia.
Alt text are embedded within the images and image descriptions can be found below.
1) A winter-themed e-newsletter header that promotes CuriousWorks’ Winter Newsletter 2026. The background is a purple, blue, and white gradient and it features decorative, winter-related drawings such as a cup of tea, snowflakes, and a red scarf scattered around. On the left-hand side of the header is the CuriousWorks logo in its colourful, horizontal format and underneath that are the words ‘Winter Newsletter 2026’ in cap-locks. On the right-hand side of the text is a polaroid graphic held by washi tape with a red picnic blanket print on it. The polaroid contains a photo of the CuriousWorks team taken by Dylan Mangunay. The CuriousWorks team (from top-left to bottom-right: William Uy Vu Le, Andrea Nealy, Miranda Aguilar, Kiriaki Zakinthinos, Kirsten Maglalang, Liliana Occhiuto, Jenny Trinh, Kumari Abeydeera, Shyamla Eswaran, Tala Issaoui, Esky Escandor & Fei Gao) are all standing next to each other. They are all smiling and directly facing the camera.
2) A photo taken by Dylan Mangunay of the Future Culture 2026 - 2027 cohort. From top-left to bottom-right, the cohort includes Shyamla Eswaran, Esky Escandor, Liliana Occhiuto, Tala Issaoui & Fei Gao. They are standing next to each other. They are all smiling and directly facing the camera.
3) A social graphic with a calm orange and blue gradient background. On topic of this background are colourful circular lines. In the middle of the graphic is the following text in white font from top to bottom, 'Explore your creativity', 'Origin Story' & 'An all-abilities, no-experience necessary course that will unearth your artistic impulses'. Below all of this text are the CuriousWorks and Milk Crate Theatre organisation logos.
4) A photo taken from a past Dear Brain Dump Diaries: Junk Journalling workshop. It is a shot of a table covered with various junk journalling material including stickers, paper, glue sticks, scissors, coloured pens & paper. Participants’ hands can be seen collaging and making.
5) A still of HOLDING SPACE 2026 artist Aprille Asfoura’s work-in-progress HANEEN. The still is a close-up of Aprille’s father’s hand holding an array of family photos. The photos are placed on a kitchen table including other items like embroidered cloth, tea, and spices.
6) A social graphic with a background of historic maps of Sydney cut up and collaged together with old photographs of people and Australia. On top of this background are the chosen artists for Backstage Music’s AZIMUTH: Navigating Sound and Space program. From top-left to bottom-right, this includes Behzad Ansari, Andrea Lim, Mark Ross, Joseph Tabua, Pico Dos Santos-Lee, Peggy Polias & Ria Andriani.