First Nations Digital Spotlight

Merindah Donnelly: Executive Producer BlakDance

Merindah Donnelly is a proud Wiradjuri woman from NSW living in Meanjin, Queensland and is currently Executive Producer BlakDance. Merindah has worked in Market Development at the Australia Council for the Arts and as creative producer for Australian Performing Arts Market APAM 2014, the National Indigenous Theatre and Dance Forums and is the co-founder of the 2018- 2019 First Nations Dialogues New York, which established a permanent First Nations platform at Performance Space New York. In 2015 and 2019 Merindah was a fellow at the International Society of Performing Arts ISPA and has worked on the Industry Series at the Talking Stick festival in Vancouver. In 2020 Merindah completed a Masters in Cultural Leadership at NIDA.

Travis De Vries (Gamilaroi)

Travis De Vries (Gamilaroi) is the founder and director of Awesome Black and is the co-host of the Broriginals podcast. Travis is a celebrated visual artist, writer and producer. Awesome Black is a new First Nations digital creative content platform that gives audiences a way to engage and support the work of the creators they love.

Awesome Black is a new First Nations digital creative content platform that gives audiences a way to engage and support the work of the creators they love. It’s been created after two years of research into digital platforms and audience engagement and draws on podcasting and gaming network models to empower connection between audiences and creators to result in a deeper level of ‘buy in’ in creative content.

John Waight: Artists in the Black Coordinator at the Arts Law Centre of Australia

John Waight (Mangaryi): Born  and raised in Darwin NT John has extensive experience in the Indigenous visual arts industry and has worked at a diverse range of institutions including most recently at the UNSW in the Faculty of Art & Design. He has also worked at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT,  Maningrida Arts and Culture, the Australian National Maritime Museum and has also worked as an Aboriginal Health Education Officer at Albion Health Centre. John is currently studying and will soon complete a Masters of Curating and Cultural leadership at the UNSW.

Patricia Adjei: First Nations Arts & Culture Australia Council for the Arts

Patricia is a Wuthathi, Mabuiag Islander and Ghanaian woman from Sydney, Australia. Patricia has Bachelors of Arts and Law from UNSW. She currently works at the Australia Council for the Arts as the First Nations arts and culture director. She previously worked at the Copyright Agency l Viscopy as the Indigenous engagement manger. She is also a 2018 Churchill fellowship recipient, investigating the practical application of laws in the USA and Panama that protect Indigenous cultural rights.