Shaheen Hughes, moderator

Shaheen Hughes is the inaugural CEO of the Museum of Freedom and Tolerance, and a passionate advocate for the pursuit of social justice and cultural equity outcomes through the arts. Shaheen has more than 20 years experience in advocacy and policy making at a local, state and federal level, and in the not-for-profit and higher education sectors. She studied in the United Kingdom and has a Master of Arts in International Communications and honours in English Literature and Art History.

Rohin Kickett

Rohin Kickett is a Noongar artist from the Ballardong region. Rohin’s artworks are inspired by his family stories of strength and survival, along with his own personal experiences growing up in Perth. Born within 50km of where his family first made contact with settlers, his connection to the Ballardong region runs deep within his family.

Rohin has exhibited in various group exhibitions, including Revealed at the Fremantle Arts Centre and the Raw Artists Perth in North Perth. His work has been exhibited in a range of Western Australian galleries such as the Yonga Boodja Aboriginal Art Gallery, Maalianup Aboriginal Gallery and Kings Park Aboriginal Gallery.

Robin is on the board of the National Association of Visual Arts and he is a strong advocate for Nyoongar art.

Jeremy Smith

Jeremy Smith is the General Manager of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), and was recently appointed to the board of the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA. In April 2020, he returned to Perth after four years at the Australia Council for the Arts in Sydney as Director – Community, Emerging and Experimental Arts.

He has previously held a range of senior positions in the corporate, not for profit and government sectors in Western Australia, including as Manager – Community Investment with Rio Tinto Iron Ore; Manager – Regional Arts and Strategic Development with DADAA; and several roles within ArtsWA / Department of Culture and the Arts. Jeremy holds a wealth of leadership experience as well as strong local, national and international networks amongst artists, arts organisations and arts supporters.

As a disabled man, Jeremy is a fierce advocate of celebrating difference and transforming attitudes which ‘other’ people in our community. He also promotes actions to ensure these values are central to our arts, cultural and creative industries

Ian Strange

Ian Strange is a New York-based, Western Australian artist who began his career as a graffiti artist before moving to New York and being mentored by legendary street artist Ron English. He is currently Guest Artistic Director at the Art Gallery of Australia.

Ian’s work sits in private and public collections including; the National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Canterbury Museum, State Library Victoria, State Library of Queensland, NGA Research Library & Archives and the Asia Pacific Design Library.

Ian is best known for his ongoing series of suburban architectural interventions, film and photographic works subverting the archetypal domestic home. The work and exhibitions have been created in the USA (SUBURBAN, 2011-13), post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand (FINAL ACT, 2013), Western Australia and Victoria, Australia (SHADOW, 2015) (OPEN HOME, 2017), Katowice, Poland (ZŁOTY, 2016) and throughout Ohio’s rust-belt region, USA (ISLAND 2015-18). 

Gemma Weston

Gemma Weston is Visual Arts Program Associate at Perth Festival. From 2013 - 2019 she was Curator of the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art at Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA, and in 2019 she co-curated a major collaborative exhibition project at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Trying to Find Comfort in an Uncomfortable Chair, for which Sydney-based artist Agatha Gothe-Snape was invited to respond to the collection with a series of new works. Gemma has also co-founded two artist-run initiatives, OK Gallery and Pet Projects, and publishes regularly on contemporary art and feminist art practice, including a recent book published by UWA Publishing, Remembering ARTEMIS, drawing from the archive of the Artemeis Women's Art Forum at the State Library of Western Australia.