We are thrilled to announce Nicky T. Li as the recipient of the Theatre Residency for 2026.
Nicky will be collaborating with Jamie Hornsby for this residency.
This is a creative development and presentation platform available to South Australian performing artists working with contemporary culture. The aim of the residency is to offer place and space as part of a vibrant arts community for artists to develop and show new or existing work.
About the artist:
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Nicky T. Li is a Kaurna-based Hong Kong artist with a passion for music theatre and experimental arts. She graduated from UniSA with a Bachelor of Arts in 2020. She developed and presented Signal: A Theatrical Mixtape through ActNow Theatre's MakeSpace Residency in 2022. Nicky was part of Nexus Arts’ 2023 Interplay cohort where she grew as a singer-songwriter. After receiving the Helpmann Creative Development Grant, she presented a sold out season of retro bilingual cabaret Leslie & Anita: Fallen Stars of Hong Kong in Adelaide Fringe 2024. Her work is highly endorsed by the local Hong Kong community and fellow Asian Australian artists. Through her work, she navigates through newfound identities and attempts to replant her heart in her heritage. In her performance, she speaks authenticity, in the hope of finding a community.
Being socially conscious, she provided cultural consultancy to RUMPUS, State Theatre Company SA and Australian Dance Theatre. Nicky became a published reviewer through ArtsHub’s Amplify Collective and Helpmann Academy InReview Mentorship.
In 2025, Nicky made her professional stage debut in Adelaide Festival’s international opera Innocence. Nicky is currently a Captain Starlight at the Starlight Children's Foundation, bringing joy to sick children and their families in hospitals.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist
This residency has support from
