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Program

Debra Porch Award: Visual Arts Residency

Debra Porch Award: Visual Arts Residency
  • When
    1 February—31 December
  • Where
    UNSW Galleries
  • Address
    1-37 Greens Road Gate 2 Loading Dock
  • Hours
    WED TO FRI 10AM–5PM; SAT TO SUN 12–5PM
  • Phone
    +61 2 8936 0888
  • RSVP
    More Information

In partnership with Creative Australia and SAC Gallery, Bangkok, UNSW Galleries is proud to support the Debra Porch Award, a three-year initiative from 2024 to 2026. Each year, both institutions will host two artists, an Australian artist in Bangkok and a Thai artist in Sydney, to undertake bespoke residencies and build local networks.

Debra Porch was an artist whose practice focused on memory, mortality and the relationship between presence and absence. Working and teaching during residencies she undertook in our neighbouring regions became vital in her art, work and life. In 2019, UNSW Galleries celebrated her work with the survey exhibition Debra Porch: Art Should Make Life More Interesting Than Art.

This award, in honour of Debra Porch’s life’s work, supports artists in pursuing long-term engagement through international residencies and strengthening strong intercultural connections across the Asia Pacific region. 

 

2024 Participant

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Naraphat Sakarthornsap

Naraphat Sakarthornsap uses photography and installation to probe themes of social inequality and gender discrimination. He meticulously selects flowers as central motifs, imbuing each blossom with symbolic depth. These floral arrangements serve as conduits, revealing hidden messages and reflecting deeper emotional layers.

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Nathan Beard

Nathan Beard is a multidisciplinary artist who draws from his Australian-Thai heritage to unpack the porous and precarious influences of culture and memory. In exploring the slippery intersection of family history, archives and broad cultural signifiers of ‘Thainess’, Beard’s work articulates the complexities surrounding authenticity and diasporic identity.

 

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Banner: Debra Porch, Regards to the Family 2011 (detail). Installation view: Canberra Contemporary Art Space. Photograph: Brenton McGeachie
Tile: Andrea Higgins, Portrait of Debra Porch and Felix 2007. Courtesy of the artist
Artist Images:
1. Naraphat Sakarthornsap. Photograph: Naraphat Sakarthornsap
2. Nathan Beard. Photograph: Kai Wasikowski