Unlocked: New Annual Preview at The Lock‑Up
Thursday 25 September, 6–8 pm
Tickets: $20 — spaces are limited, book now.

Be the first to experience New Annual 2025 with Unlocked: New Annual Preview Night at The Lock‑Up to be launched by Artistic Director Tory Loudon.

This special preview brings together two of Australia’s most compelling contemporary voices: Karla Dickens and Khaled Sabsabi in conversation facilitated by The Lock-Up Director Alexandra Pedley.

Together, they will lead an intimate and urgent discussion on art, activism and agency. Confronting the realities of climate crisis, conflict and the fight for freedom of creative expression, this evening offers Newcastle’s communities a chance to engage with bold ideas and their own creative imaginaries in the home of independent thinking and big ideas: The Lock‑Up.

After the program, the night opens into a relaxed social gathering with drinks and a chance to connect with fellow art lovers, thinkers and change‑makers ahead of the launch of New Annual 2025.
—

Karla Dickens, a Wiradjuri, Irish and German multidisciplinary artist based in Lismore on Bundjalung Country, is celebrated for her searingly honest and politically charged installations, collages and sculptures. Known as a found‑object virtuoso, Dickens transforms discarded materials into potent narratives that confront race, gender and injustice with fierce wit and generosity. Her work has featured in major national exhibitions including the Adelaide Biennial and the Biennale of Sydney’s NIRIN, and is held in leading public collections across the country.

Khaled Sabsabi, a Lebanese‑Australian multimedia and installation artist based in Western Sydney, creates immersive works that blend video, sound and community‑based practice to explore spirituality, displacement and ideological fractures. Born in Tripoli and displaced by war, his work navigates faith, migration and social memory. A Creative Australia Award recipient, Sabsabi’s practice resonates on both national and global stages, and his reinstated selection for the 2026 Venice Biennale affirms his standing as one of Australia’s most significant cultural figures.