At PICA we recognise that we are situated within the unceded lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. We pay our respects and offer our gratitude to Elders past and present. We acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the importance of their care and continued connection to culture, community and Country.

Always was, always will be.

Galleries are open 12–5pm. Our exhibitions are always free.

Tina Stefanou

Tina Stefanou

The University of Melbourne – $50,000 Schenberg Art Fellowship  2020

Tina Stefanou’s recent year spent living and working in rural Western Australia amidst shifting political and environmental terrains has shaped how she chooses to engage and communicate within the arts. Her practice contemplates how neoliberalism and global class dynamics infiltrate our day-to-day lives, sense of self, bodies, practices, and relationships, affecting how we connect and create liberation for one another and the planet. Beneath the surface of what may seem merely practical in the business of living, she uncovers undercurrents—subtle entitlements reliant on the obscured labour of hidden figures. Her collaborative filmic traces, performance environments, singing objects, and fieldwork advocate for a dance into stranger solidarities and proximities—a sidestep into the gaps of understanding that hold the potential for other forms of sharing and contributing the cultural commons. In an era marked by the sixth great extinction, she embraces vocality in an expanded sense—to play, to soothe, to cross-over, to incite, to destabilise, and to gather. Voice as belonging, as anti-administrata, animality, multi-species hospice, minor sociality, tactility, disart, as post-nationalism, as poetic sludge, as conveying sonorities and affects that words and images alone cannot reproduce.

What does Hatched mean to you?

Hatched means a chance, a chance for working-class artists to get a leg up in an industry that is pretty tough to get into. It changed my life and continues to provide me with the opportunity to be a practicing artist.

How did Hatched help to develop your practice or career?

Winning Hatched alleviated a lot of financial stress during COVID-19, it assisted in developing multiple works, getting my teeth checked, a roof over my caravan, and professional development opportunities like mentorship and travel. It also introduced me to a community of artists and organisations in Western Australia, I believe it pathed the way to my ongoing work in rural WA with SPACED. It platformed my practice to a wider audience which is always a good thing especially in terms of visibility and gaining access to places, and people within the arts.