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Firstdraft is where the future of contemporary art emerges, through a program that champions experimentation, risk and inclusion.

 

upcoming

Program
Alina, Olena, Lana and Jana
Oct 17
Alina, Olena, Lana and Jana

Alina, Olena, Lana and Jana is a single-channel digital video work and installation. It is a re-imagining of four Eastern European characters that Cubric played as an actress for various UK television and stage productions.

Headway
Oct 17
Headway

Headway is a large-scale installation formed from the remnants of a year-long performance by Felix Jackson. Throughout 2024, Felix wore one new white sock each day on alternating feet. By the end of the year, 366 socks had been collected, each marked with the traces of daily use.

Fugitives
Oct 17
Fugitives

Penal colony, police state, imperial pawn. From its genesis, Australia has operated as a carceral and militarised state. How are artists responding to a structure that is physical, legal, and material—its legacies and its projections onto other places on the planet? Hijacking, intervention, documentation, glitching—fugitive artistic methods.

Fog of war
Oct 17
Fog of war

Fog of war is a military metaphor that has been adopted as a mechanic in strategy-map-based video games. It appears as a darkened foggy area around a player’s avatar or base, differentiating the unexplored from the explored territory on a map shared with hidden enemies.

Oct/Nov Exhibition Openings
Oct 17
Oct/Nov Exhibition Openings

Join us from 6-8 pm, for the opening of four new exhibitions including 3 solo exhibitions by Tanya Cubric, Felix Jackson, Samuel Chan and a group exhibition curated by Levent Can Kaya with Sydney Jarrett, Tabitha Lean, Zeinab Mahfoud and Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis.

Oct/Nov Artist Talks
Oct 18
Oct/Nov Artist Talks

Join us from 2-4pm on Saturday 18 October for artist talks with the October/November exhibitions, including Levent Can Kaya, Sydney Jarrett, Tabitha Lean, Zeinab Mahfoud, Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis, Tanya Cubric, Felix Jackson and Samuel Chan.

Co-working Wednesdays - Semester 1
Oct 22
Co-working Wednesdays - Semester 1

Join us in this new community networking opportunity called Co-working Wednesdays, a low commitment weekly event (during exhibition periods) to be held after business hours on Wednesday from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

news

Featured
Firstdraft is now seeking proposals for the 2026 - 27 program
Firstdraft is now seeking proposals for the 2026 - 27 program

Firstdraft is now seeking proposals from artists, curators and writers for consideration in our 2026–27 Program. We invite ideas that champion experimentation, risk and inclusion.

Firstdraft welcomes new Chair and Treasurer
Firstdraft welcomes new Chair and Treasurer

The team at Firstdraft are delighted to announce Firstdraft’s new Chair Augusta Supple and Treasurer Dominic Kavanagh.

2024 Annual Survey: The Firstdraft Census
2024 Annual Survey: The Firstdraft Census

The Firstdraft Census is Firstdraft’s annual stakeholder survey for 2024. Firstdraft is growing and we want to hear from you during this period of change.

Caity Reynolds appointed General Manager
Caity Reynolds appointed General Manager

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Caity Reynolds as Firstdraft's new General Manager.

interviews

Featured
Bootlegging through the creative wilds with Visaya Hoffie
Bootlegging through the creative wilds with Visaya Hoffie

“These spaces of imaginative and creative wildness are rare in a world that wants to compartmentalise and control all forms of cultural production.”

The beginning and end of Sofiyah Ruqayah
The beginning and end of Sofiyah Ruqayah

“We all have our own experiences of moving toward or away from connection, and for me, part of navigating these experiences necessarily involves a questioning of where I begin and end, what or who I consist of, and how the impacts of mutuality and difference influence how I move through the world.”

Slow cinema in the work of Ryan Andrew Lee
Slow cinema in the work of Ryan Andrew Lee

“I’m working mostly within the scope of documentary and experimental eco-cinema practices, utilising the principles of slow cinema and cinéma vérité.”

The intersecting orbits curated by Tim Marvin
The intersecting orbits curated by Tim Marvin

“The sun's pervasive presence allows it to be the subject, whether direct or not, for a lot of artistic practices and creative investigations.”

donate now

Join our vision for the future of contemporary art by donating to Firstdraft today. A little support goes a long way – but a lot goes further. Donate now.