Nillumbik Small Business Week: Connecting Creatives

Published on 02 May 2024

Creative Industries is a free networking event for Nillumbik creatives to connect with fellow local artists, innovators, and industry leaders in our vibrant community. 

Along with the opportunity to connect, this event, held as part of Nillumbik Small Business Week, includes an expert led panel discussion about different ways in which creatives can engage with space in their practice.

This inspiring and thought-provoking discussion is led by moderator curator Victor Griss. Griss has extensive experience in the visual arts and gallery sector, most recently at Counihan Gallery in Brunswick, known for its exhibitions and public programs committed to human rights, social justice and the environment.

From public to the personal, from the poetic to the practical, from the cultural to the critical, the expert panel discussion will stimulate re-thinking about how we use and explore the dimensions of space.

Nillumbik Mayor Ben Ramcharan said that it is important to provide these opportunities for connection and discussion for our Creative Industries.

“At a time when human creativity is being challenged by AI, data shows that one in five jobs is in the creative industries, and every aspect of our lives is touched by the work of creative people,” Cr Ramcharan said. “In Nillumbik, creatives are an essential piece of our cultural fabric, contribute to our local economy and attract visitation to our Shire.”

The panellists for the discussion include:

• Philip Samartzis – Professor, RMIT School of Art, sound artist, researcher, and curator with a specific interest in raising community awareness about social and environmental conditions.
• Sophie Travers - CEO of Australian Tapestry Workshop. With an early career in international marketing, she transitioned to arts management and worked in London, Groningen, Brussels, Berlin, Sydney and Melbourne for a range of organisations. 
• Nusra Latif Qureshi – Pakistani born, internationally trained artist, her practice has developed through an in-depth study of conventional South Asian painting techniques in conjunction with image manipulation software.

Wednesday 29 May 2024, 6pm – 9pm
Montsalvat, 7 Hillcrest Avenue, Eltham