During Tian Zhang’s curatorial residency here at the AGYU, we managed to sit her down with Emelie Chhangur to discuss curatorial practice, institutional power shifts, and the future of culture. This podcast, part of an irregular series for the gallery, was moderated and produced by Alissa Firth-Eagland.

Emelie Chhangur has pioneered a practice she calls “in-reach:” a process of rethinking institutional protocols and modes of production that reorients the public gallery as a civic, community-facing, ethical space. Over 15 years, she has worked to rethink the institution and its role and responsibilities in building cultural ecologies.

Tian Zhang is a curator and cultural producer interested in socially-engaged, alternative and activist curatorial methodologies. She is a trailblazer who has championed many award-winning socially-engaged and site-specific works and initiated artist-led projects across Australia. She comes to AGYU on secondment thanks to the Australia Council for the Arts.

Alissa Firth-Eagland is a curator and writer who deeply values the sharing and decentralization of culture. Since 2003, Firth-Eagland has developed a range of local and international projects spanning contemporary art, community development, multimedia, equity practices, cultural mediation, critical writing, publishing, and alternative forms of learning.