Join us as three leading creatives from different industries share how they interpret this theme, through stories of progress, resistance, and the moments that demanded a push.

PUSH is the second event in our 2025 Perspectives series, held at ILUMINA - a new event space above the Martin Place metro station in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. It’s an exciting new home for Perspectives, one that invites fresh energy and broader perspectives.

For this event, we're mixing things up with a special morning edition (8AM to 10AM) designed to kickstart your day with bold ideas and lively conversation.

Morning's don’t suit? Our next event on October 3rd will return to regular programming in the evening.

PUSH

To apply force to move something forward. To challenge the status quo. To provoke momentum. To advocate.

Hear from:

Ali Bounds, Co-CEO BVN Architecture

BVN co-CEO and principal Ali Bounds is both ideologically driven and pragmatic when it comes to making architecture better engage with our streets, neighbourhoods, cities and environment. The concept of experience is central in Ali’s approach to design. Her original thinking and expertise in user consultation has seen her projects recognised for design innovation and the buildings become high-value community assets stitched into their environs.

Her imprint can be found on award-winning projects spanning healthcare, research, education, workplace and adaptive reuse with pedagogical and research environments that push the boundaries and civic buildings that offer captivating journeys of discovery.

Angeline Penrith, Actor and Storyteller

Angeline Penrith is a Wiradjuri and Yuin actor raised in the Redfern/Waterloo community. She made her acting and singing debut at 12, opening for the ABC’s Blackout, and has since built a 20+ year career across theatre, film, and television. Stage credits include Wayside Bride and Winyanboga Yurringa (Belvoir), My Girragundji (Canute Productions), and The Dreaming (STC). On screen, she’s appeared in Black Comedy, Cleverman, Born to Spy, and the feature film Mother Mountain (2022).

In 2023, she starred in Griffin Theatre’s Blaque Showgirls. A regular host of First Nations events such as Yabun and NAIDOC in the City, Angeline is the Creative Director of Redfern Renaissance for Sydney Festival’s 2025 Blak Out program. She recently worked on the Nunda Wali Rising sculpture and is a member of the Sydney Coastal Aboriginal Women’s Group, advocating for stories of both traditional and contemporary coastal Sydney.

Emily McDaniel, Curator and Artist

Emily McDaniel is a Wiradjuri curator, creative practitioner and a Professor of Practice in the School of Architecture, UTS. She consults on curatorship, cultural narratives, learning and interpretation for cultural institutions, public domain, and the built environment.

Her practice applies Country-centred curatorial methodologies in collaboration with First Nations communities, cultural and creative practitioners, architects, and designers to story and truth-tell. She is recognised for her influential curatorial methodologies which place emphasis on expansive cultural practice, encompassing visual art, design, storytelling, language, performance, Indigenous knowledges, cultural governance, and nation building methodologies.