Dancer in conversation

Join National Portrait Gallery Curator Dr Emma Kindred in conversation with Daly River artist and designer Jacob Nash, whose photographs feature in the touring exhibition Dancer. Nash was Head of Design at Bangarra Dance Theatre between 2010 and 2023, working on over 20 productions. Recognised nationally and internationally for his work, including a Helpmann Award for Best Scenic Design for Bangarra's production Bennelong, Nash was appointed the inaugural Creative Artist in Residence for Sydney Festival in 2021. Having taken his first photographs on his father’s 1974 Nikkormat as a teenager, Nash began photographing dancers while touring with Bangarra. In those intimate moments backstage or in the paint-up room, he captured the ‘space in between’ where dancers transformed into storytellers.

Jacob Nash is a First Nations Australian artist and designer whose ancestral land on his mother's side is in the Daly River. He also holds Chinese and Scottish heritages. Growing up on Quandamooka Country, Jacob has spent the last two decades living and working across the Eora Nation (Sydney). His multidisciplinary practice spans Theatre, Film, TV, Fine Art, and Public Art, combining these diverse experiences to create iconic imagery and storytelling that reflect the stories, people, and Country from a distinct First Nations perspective.

Dr Emma Kindred is a curator, art historian and writer. She is Curator at the National Portrait Gallery and Honorary Research Associate at the National Gallery of Australia. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow in Art History at University of Sydney, and has previously held curatorial positions at the National Gallery of Australia and Australian War Memorial. Major curatorial projects include Joan Ross: Those trees came back to me in my dreams (NPG 2024-25) and Belonging: stories of Australian art (NGA 2019-20). She regularly contributes to Australian art historical scholarship, with recent publications including catalogue essays on Australian artists working in North Africa for exhibitions staged by the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia and Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Ticket includes one beverage on arrival. No entry to Dancer or Fermoy House.

Limited parking available on-site.

Wheelchair accessible.

Banner image: Beau Dean Riley Smith, Wiradjuri and Gamilaray nations, Bennelong 2017 from the series ‘Space in between’ (detail), Jacob Nash, Daly River, inkjet print on paper. © Jacob Nash