happening now

galleries, public program

Exhibition: In Reflection: In Response, curated by Stella Martino

Image: Filling in the Blank(et) - Stitching Stories by Elina Priha, Eline Gaudé, Stella Martino, Anna Kozonina, Martta Nieminen, Onerva Heikka

July 18 - September 5, 2025

Opening: Friday, July 18, 5:30-7:30pm

Artist Talk: Friday, August 29, 5:30-6:30pm

Gallery I, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Free entry, all welcome

  • You can find In Reflection: In Response in The Mill’s Gallery I, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).

    Gallery I is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.

    Accessibility

    The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

    Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

    The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

    Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.


For SALA 2025 The Mill is excited to present In Reflection: In Response, a new group exhibition curated by Stella Martino, featuring the work of five South Australian artists; Shani Engelbrecht (textiles), Tash Evele (textiles), Carman Skeehan (glass), Lotte Schwerdtfeger (ceramics) and Yana Lehey (sculpture). In Reflection: In Response has been developed through a collaborative, community-driven component led by Stella, who sites Ursula Le Guin’s essay The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction in the conceptual underpinning of the exhibition.

For each of the artists, this exhibition has been an opportunity to come together, share ideas, collaborate, form communal bonds and develop their work. We’re excited to see the artists’ process, both in their individual practices and in creating collaborative work, showcased together in the gallery.

  • In Reflection: In Response is a group exhibition with collaboration at its core. This exhibition explores how we collect memories, experiences, time and stories and how we share them with our community. The idea of the exhibition is an extension of previous research and projects I (the curator) have been part of; a shared hand-sewn quilt, a collective recipe book and creative non-fiction short stories exploring the same themes. There are lots of little things that connect every project I undertake, but the single connecting thread is Ursula Le Guin’s essay The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. Le Guin’s essay challenges the idea of stories that centre one individual and instead offers the viewpoint that stories are a collection of moments and experiences gathered over time. Le Guin uses the term ‘carrier bag’ as a figurative and literal image of how we collect things and put them in a vessel to save for a time when those things are shared amongst others. In this exhibition, you’ll find various forms of ‘carrier bags’ or vessels that have been created by each artist using their chosen medium. In each of the artists’ pieces are motifs and acknowledgements of one another. At the centre of this collaborative exhibition is a shared patchwork sampler created over three residency workshops hosted at The Mill. In these workshops, the artists were invited to use various fabrics and materials to hand-stitch, sew or embroider stories, memories and pieces of themselves that are important to them, their community and their practice. Each workshop was a chance for the artists and myself to spend time together, tell stories, ask questions, share skills, share food, share thoughts to create our collective ‘carrier bag’.

  • Stella Martino is an emerging curator and writer originally from Dharug/Sydney, now based in Tarndanya/Adelaide. Stella completed her Master of Arts (in Visual Cultures, Curating and Contemporary Art) from Aalto University in Finland in 2023. Since then, Stella has undertaken a curatorial internship at The Mill under the mentorship of visual arts curator Adele Sliuzas. While studying in Finland, Stella co-curated and was a participating artist in the group exhibition Ghost Elephant Stitches in the Snow and co-created and developed the community arts and recipe book Recipes for Resilience and Care in the Climate Emergency. Stella is interested in queer ecologies and how the more-than-human interacts with their environments and in art. Her master's thesis aimed to understand how various forms of memory inform storytelling and their impact on our well-being. Through her research and previous projects, Stella also explores the benefits of community care practices within and beyond art spaces.

  • Dear diary, is a homage to the diary I received from my cousins during my first trip to Fiji in 2013. I was homesick and used it to comfort myself, writing that I would be okay and that I’d be home soon. Since then, I’ve returned to the diary at the end of each year to write a letter to my future self. While some years were missed, the ritual has continued for almost a decade. I reflect on the year, set goals, and often end with, “Good luck, future me!” The diary has become a vessel carrying my past selves and hopes for the future.

    For this work, I recreated the diary cover using fabrics, sewing techniques and drawing to introduce softness and texture. I wove raffia along the edge to reference the handmade detailing of my original diary. I invited each artist in our group to write a letter to their future self and included my own past letters. I interpreted these letters into small fabric pieces, drawing from handwriting styles to create visual textures. A single thread connects all elements, symbolising a shared stream of consciousness linking our thoughts, hopes, and futures.

    Shani Engelbrecht (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist of Indo-Fijian and Scottish-Irish heritage, creating and living on Kaurna Land, South Australia. She holds an Honours degree in Visual Arts (2022) and a Bachelor of Creative Arts (2021) from Flinders University. Her work predominantly explores her identity and sense of belonging in the space she grew up in. Race and identity are at the core of Engelbrecht’s practice as she interrogates the incidences of racism experienced by people of colour daily. By using performance, photography, video, drawing and painting, her work blends traditional and contemporary techniques to convey the duality of her upbringing and to reflect on the feelings of otherness. Engelbrecht has shown works in multiple exhibitions including Art That Walks OFF the Walls (Goodwood Theatre & Studios 2024), Hatched: National Graduate Show Exhibition (Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts 2023), not white/not brown (FELTspace 2023).

  • The Pools explore connection between artists, family, community, and the wider world. I have always felt a profound safety and sense of calm when standing in the sea. Wherever I am in the world, wherever my loved ones may be, we have the ocean between us.

    Each rockpool in the installation acts as a miniature world, a reflection of the individual artists featured in the exhibition. Crafted with care and intention, these rockpools are filled with ocean treasures I collected alongside my family. When holidaying together recently, we collected shells, sponges, sea glass and more, embedding the work with personal memory, gratitude and the quiet power of shared experience.

    I asked each artist in our collective to do their own reflection on special memories at the beach. The photos provided are stitched together and mixed media is used to add elements of interest.

    By recreating these small tidal worlds, I wanted to honour both the individuality of each artist and the collective beauty of community.This installation is a reminder that, even in our own tiny ecosystems, we are part of something vast, unexplored and deeply interconnected.

    Broken mirror fragments embedded within the pools invite literal and figurative reflection from the viewer. Finally, a single, continuous rope, weaves through the work, tethering us together as one. The rope itself was made by attaching discarded, found fragments together to create one connecting string.

    Calamity Tash, local queer Craft Wizard, believes art is for everyone and is most passionate about inclusivity and accessibility to the creative arts. Over the last decade Tash has been skill sharing with communities across the globe. The spreading of craft joy will continue as Tash becomes an enthusiastic resident at The Mill. Tash’s signature sparkle and use of whimsical dolls have been her wearable art trademark. Calamity Tash joins us on a journey of self expression and discovery. Her private studio will see the creation of many a weird and wonderful thing.

  • I put it here so I wouldn’t forget

    I’ve always kept small things—gifts, fragments, found objects—on a little rack at home. It’s where I put pieces of the world that feel like mine: tiny markers of memory, small gestures of joy. For this exhibition, I’ve made a version of that rack in glass. Each object is a response—to the time shared, the conversations, the stitching, the slowness of sitting beside others and making something by hand. A clover. A safety pin. A necklace. Teeth. A bag. Candles, pencils, thread.

    These are replicas of real things, made in glass, they feel a little removed from the world, but still intimate—fragile, exact, sometimes strange. They hold the trace of someone’s story, or a moment passed between us.

    Ursula Le Guin reminds us that stories aren’t always linear or heroic—they can be soft vessels, carriers of collective experience. That idea stayed with me as we stitched and talked and shared time.

    This shelf is both archive and offering. A way of holding memory that isn’t fixed, but refracted—through glass, through time, through others. In the making, I’ve come to know, understand, and appreciate the group I’ve worked alongside—through their stories, their hands, their quiet generosity. It’s a collection of small things that don’t belong to just me, gathered with care and left open to interpretation.

    Carman Skeehan is a glass artist and maker, living in Adelaide, South Australia. Having completed the Jam Factory associate program in 2023, Carman has hit a milestone in her work, elevating her artistic practice. Guided by the meticulous creative process, Carman centres her work on the art of storytelling through glass, exploring the intersection of narrative and materials. Skeehan draws inspiration from early oil paintings and still lifes, creating a unique likeness in glass materials. Her work is an exploration of these elements, seamlessly blending them to create unique and compelling pieces of art.

  • A human thing: useful, edible, or beautiful 

    A leaf, a gourd, a shell, a net, a bag, a sling a sack a bottle a pot a box a container, a Sea Sponge Vessel

    My practice has often included collaborations with artists, working in tandem and responding to each other's work, presence and life; creating and complicating narratives and expanding our boundaries together. The residencies sessions to create a textile work were both daunting and exuberant, in facilitating connecting between a group of relative strangers. I followed this formula, inviting the participating artists to visit my studio and work one on one alongside me on a large scale ceramic vessel.

    After hand-building a very large vase shape with thick walls; I guided each artist in technique, and together we cut away pieces from the vessel, creating a delicate lattice structure.

    This ‘porous vessel’ references a net, basketry or fish trap, objects often traditionally crafted in group settings. It is a vessel to capture our experiences and time spent getting to know each other.

    Whilst our hands were busy and eyes averted, conversation through joint work facilitated deeper connection.

    To further this metaphor we created beads from offcuts of clay, stringing together our work and experience into a continuous thread of coral fragments.

    My ceramic works repeatedly reference motifs of sea creatures such as corals and sponges. These colonial animals have become symbols of the fragility of nature, as the first flag of the environmental system collapses. However these foundation species, the architects of ecosystems have long endured climate fluctuations across deep geological time. Just as algae and animal cells cooperate to build a reef and it is only by collaborating that humanity can create the narrative of our future.

    Lotte Schwerdtfeger is an artist and is currently a studio tenant at the JamFactory Ceramics Studio, Tarndanya/Adelaide. She is materially led across many mediums, being consistently drawn to ceramic processes. Lotte hand builds ceramics, coiling and pinching both functional, sculptural and installation works; combining tendrils of research which span anthropology, biology, symbolism and revelry in the small psychedelic moments of existence. Lotte is delighted by the alchemical and elemental processes of ceramics. She is always intrigued by the role of objects, quotidian and ritual, in defining and connecting human and nonhuman experiences. Lotte is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts; regularly working on commission, collaborative projects and gallery exhibitions. Where possible all materials are salvaged, reused and recycled, working towards a zero waste practice.

  • As Above, So Below

    Chews Wisely

    Throughout my varied practice, the project has dictated the medium.  Thus I have picked up a middling aptitude for various techniques, collecting skills like baubles.  The ones I handled and polished the longest are those I have wanted or enjoyed since childhood.

    This trend continues into my contribution to In Reflection: In Response.  In the techniques employed and the stories shared, there is an odd tension between nostalgia and hope.  The nostalgic anecdotes swapped within the group prompted me to choose floral motifs in my embroidery: common European plants which carpeted the meadows of my childhood, but struggle in the cracks here. 

    I explored Irish lace in an attempt to connect with a heritage of which I retain only a bastardised surname.  The scale of my work lent itself to constructing wisdom teeth in response to the surprisingly common conversations about teeth in our midst.  As we were encouraged to read Ursula LeGuin’s The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, I came to think of the mouth as a carrier bag of stories.  Five teeth, five stories; wisdom optional.

    Yana Lehey is an environmentally motivated visual artist based on Kaurna land. Her practice spans various mediums, covering drawing, painting, and sculpture, depending on what a project calls for. Most recently, she has applied a textile approach to petroleum-based waste materials like plastic and rubber on a large scale, creating oversized crocheted sculptural works. She developed the necessary techniques as an accessible means for every person to tackle the waste problem without the need for expensive technology and infrastructure. Yana’s interest in environmental art first started to gain traction in 2020, with her first solo exhibition Face Up, featuring monumentally scaled watercolour portraits of nine young climate activists from diverse cultural backgrounds with diverse approaches. The research behind this project formed the basis for Yana’s current practice.



This exhibition has support from

galleries, public program

Exhibition: Erin Renfrey, Once Upon a Lemon Drop

Image: Erin Renfrey, Past, Present and Future (Elspeth, Harold and Doris)

July 18 - September 5, 2025

Opening Event: Friday July 18, 5:30-7:30pm

Gallery II, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

Free entry, all welcome

  • You can find Erin’s exhibition in The Mill’s Gallery II, located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).

    Gallery II is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.

    Accessibility

    The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

    Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

    The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

    Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.


For SALA 2025 we are excited to present Once Upon a Lemon Drop, a new solo exhibition by watercolour artist Erin Renfrey. Invoking a sense of childlike curiosity, Erin’s compositions encourage us to see the world through new eyes. Familiar and friendly faces co-exist with unexpected, sinister and uncanny characters, and just like a Grimm fairytale, we are drawn into a conversation about social mores and societal expectations.

  • In Once Upon a Lemon Drop, I am presenting a collection of new, intriguing watercolour paintings. My work reveals an otherworldly journey through the lives of fantastical creatures as they search for communion with each other and the universe. Hieronymus Bosch, theatre, and vintage illustrations are just some of my sources of inspiration.

    My process involves meticulously layering watercolour on paper and panel to create colourful and eye-catching imagery. Each work begins with daydreaming and doodling, which becomes conceptually realised through thrifted toys and handmade miniatures, functioning as a guide for form, light and shadow, and composition.

  • Erin is an emerging artist based on Kaurna Land. She commenced her Bachelor of Creative Arts at Flinders University and Adelaide College of the Arts in 2020 and graduated in 2023. In the same year she was selected for the Helpmann Graduate Exhibition, receiving the Hill Smith Art Advisory Award and Square Holes Award. She has since been a finalist in the Adelaide Parklands Art Prize and exhibited at BMGArt, Collective Haunt and St. Peters Town Hall.

    Erin is currently a studio resident at The Mill.



This exhibition has support from

public program

Studio Tours

Photo: Bri Hammond.

June - November, 2025

Fourtnightly Tours alternating Tuesdays, 11am, and Fridays, 4:30pm

The Mill Foyer, 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta

45 minutes duration

Free entry, all welcome

  • The Mill’s monthly Studio Tours will begin in the Foyer at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta.

    Accessibility

    The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.

    Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team. They will meet you at the accessible entrance to welcome you into the building.

    The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.

    Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.

We’re excited to announce fortnightly studio tours at The Mill, taking you behind the scenes of our 60+ studio resident community.

Starting this June, we’ll be opening our doors for fortnightly tours on alternating Tuesdays and Fridays; inviting audiences to explore our studios and engage with our community.

Whether you're an art lover, a curious wanderer, or just keen to see creativity in motion, these tours promise inspiration and new connections at every turn.

Social clubs, community organisations and groups of 6+ can register for private tours by emailing info@themilladelaide.com.


ozasia residency

OzAsia Festival Residency: Sulochana Dissanayake

The Mill is thrilled to announce Sulochana Dissanayake as the recipient of the OzAsia Festival Residency for 2025.

Sulochana will be collaborating with Dinuka Liyanawatte 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:

  • Sulochana Dissanayake, founder and artistic director of Power of Play (PVT) LTD, is dedicated to creating works that reflect identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion while advocating for social change.

    With a cum laude degree in Economics and Theater from Bates College (2009), she combines her expertise in theater, directing, puppetry and writing to craft experiences that engage and challenge audiences on critical societal issues.

    Dissanayake’s experience with leading theatres in the U.S. (Guthrie Theater and Williamstown Theater Festival) has shaped her approach to performance as a powerful tool for social advocacy. She uses creative and interactive methods to spark conversations around cultural and social divides. A Watson Fellowship recipient (2009/10), she traveled to South Africa and Indonesia to explore how performance can foster community engagement and cross-cultural understanding. Her work in Sri Lanka focuses on empowering marginalized voices and promoting social justice through the arts.

    In 2024, Dissanayake migrated to Adelaide with the hope of expanding Power of Play to Australia for intercontinental collaborations. Dissanayake remains active in both countries & capitalises her experience in USA, Europe, Africa and Asia to customise unique communication solutions for communities of South Australia & Sri Lanka. For more information visit www.linkedin.com/in/sulochana-d

Photographer: Bri Hammond


This residency has support from

 
 

dance residency

Dance Residency 2025: Erin Fowler

The Mill is thrilled to announce Erin Fowler as the recipient of the Dance Residency for 2025.

Erin will be collaborating with South Australian performing artists including Will Spartalis, Hew Parham, Sam McMahon, Jazzy Williamson-Grey and Zoe Dunwoodie.

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:

  • Erin Fowler is an award-winning dance and physical theatre maker, performer, musician, and educator based on Kaurna Yerta. She creates and presents deeply feminine, audience driven, socially minded work and blends together an eclectic mix of contemporary dance, feminine movement, clowning, cabaret and martial arts.

    Erin’s choreographic highlights include her two award winning solo works, EGG and FEMME, which toured to festivals globally; Gen-y commissioned for the Adelaide Dance Festival; and Epoch created on Australian Dance Theatre for their Ignition season.

    As a performer she has collaborated on The Sight by on Victoria Falconer (Dark Mofo Festival), and The Vali Myers Project: And Then We Go (Adelaide Cabaret Festival, 2022) and with companies and artists including BalletLab, Patch Theatre Company and independent artists Lina Limosani, Monte Massi, Ben Brooker & Teddy Dunn (Act Now Theatre) and Larissa McGowan.

    She was the movement director for Rebecca Meston’s HITS (Adelaide Festival Centre, 2024) and is currently directing and choreographing Joanne Hartstone's upcoming Adelaide Cabaret Festival show, The Smart Girl's Guide to Breaking Up.


This residency has support from

 
 

theatre residency

Theatre Residency 2025: Katherine Sortini

The Mill is thrilled to announce Katherine Sortini as the recipient of the Theatre Residency for 2025.

Katherine will be collaborating with Nate Troisi, Elizabeth Hay, Caroline Reid and Steven Durrey 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:

  • Katherine is founder of award-winning independent theatre company Deus Ex Femina. She currently works as a freelance creative working as an actor, playwright, spoken-word poet, director, producer and dramaturg.

    She is the current 2023 South Australian Spoken Word Champion. She has written, produced, acted and directed original award-winning shows All the Things I Couldn’t Say and Dirty Energy. In 2023, Katherine was nominated for the 7 News Young Achiever Award and was selected to be a finalist. Her piece, Heroes, was chosen for The Intersection Festival in Sydney in 2021 and was published by Currency Press in Intersection;Unleashed.

Photographer: Bri Hammond


This residency has support from

 
 

first nations residency

First Nations Dance Residency 2025: Kaine Sultan-Babij

The Mill is thrilled to announce Kaine Sultan-Babij as the recipient of the First Nations Dance Residency for 2025.

Kaine will be collaborating with Liam Somerville and Sascha Budimski 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:

  • Arrernte and Gurindji Contemporary Dance Artist, Kaine Sultan-Babij, is making a lasting impact on the world of dance and drag.

    With a background that includes performing with Leigh Warren and Dancers, Bangarra Dance Theatre, and the Australian Dance Theatre, Kaine has skilfully blended Contemporary Dance and Contemporary Indigenous Dance. Based in Kaurna Country, Kaine stands as an Independent Dancer and Choreographer, contributing to the vibrant Australian performing arts scene.

    Beyond Kaine's achievements in the dance world, the emergence of Estelle, a captivating Drag Performer and Persona, has added another layer to their artistic repertoire. Estelle quickly gained recognition, establishing herself as a standout performer in the Adelaide Drag Scene. Through electrifying performances, Estelle has earned a respected place in the realm of drag.

    Together, Kaine and Estelle embody a powerful fusion of Tradition, creativity, and contemporary expression, making a lasting impression on the dance and drag communities in Australia.

Photographer: Bri Hammond


 

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

 

photog in res

Photographer in Residence 2025: Carmen Alcedo

The Mill is thrilled to announce Carmen Alcedo as the recipient of the Photographer in Residence program for 2025. Presented in partnership with the Ana and Christopher Koch Foundation Fund, Carmen will receive a 12-month studio space in 2025 and an exhibition outcome as part of The Mill’s Visual Arts Program in 2026.

About the artist:

  • Carmen Alcedo is a Spanish-born freelance photographer based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a background as a lawyer.

    With over seven years of experience in professional photography, her work focuses on storytelling, capturing personal narratives and intimate moments through both portrait and documentary photography.

    Carmen's artistic practice explores themes of identity, transformation, and human connection, often delving into how we relate to our environment and the people around us. She combines technical proficiency with emotional depth to create visual narratives that resonate with the viewer.

    Carmen's exhibitions include Imaginary Journeys (SALA 2024), currently on display at Cherrybomb Cafe in Adelaide, and participation in the group exhibition TEACHERS, LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE at 229LAB in Paris (2024). She has also exhibited in the Hybrid Art Fair (2016-2018) and the Affordable Art Fair in Sydney (2022).

    Currently, Carmen is involved in community-driven art projects in the Brompton Community Garden, where she collaborates with others to create work that fosters connection and environmental awareness.

Photo: Bri Hammond


 

The Photographer in Residence program is presented in partnership with the Ana and Christopher Koch Foundation Fund.

 

writers in residence

Writer in Residence 2025: Steph Daughtry

The Mill is thrilled to announce Steph Daughtry as the recipient of the 2025 Writer in Residence.

The Writer in Residence program, in partnership with CityMag, supports emerging writers from a variety of disciplines. The program creates a broader audience for writing through leadership, mentorship and publication.

About the writer:

  • Steph is an award winning cross-disciplinary artist, producer, director, and writer working predominantly in live performance and installation.

    Specialising in collaborative and devised forms of theatre that explore social and environmental impacts, her credits include Brag Drunch (Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2023), The Fish Bowl (Best Theatre and Physical Theatre Award at the Adelaide Fringe in 2022), and Eating Tomorrow (Sustainability Award Adelaide Fringe 2021).

    Steph works as an independent freelance artist, as well as in her role as the co-Founder and co-Artistic Director of production company Post Dining, producing award-winning, innovative forms of entertainment and education designed to engage all the senses.

    Steph is currently completing her PhD as part of Uni SA Creative exploring the impact of cultural policy on the capacity for artists to engage in professional practice. As part of this research Steph has published in the Journal of Sociology exploring the impact of arts funding, and has previously written for Felt Space as part of their writers program, and published pieces in Fine Print magazine and The Skinny (Edinburgh). Steph looks forward to using her residency to translate her research into smaller digestible pieces that engage with the artistic community at The Mill and wider Adelaide. 

Photo: Bri Hammond


 

The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag.

 

sponsored studio recipien

Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency 2025: Dai Trang Nguyen

The Mill is thrilled to announce Dai Trang Nguyen as the recipient of the Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency in 2025. The Mill’s Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency is supported by donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin, Arts SA and OzAsia Festival.

Dai Trang will receive 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome in The Mill’s Gallery II as part of OzAsia Festival 2025.

Kayangan is a Malay word meaning ‘heaven’ or ‘from the sky’. 

  • Dai Trang is a Vietnamese artist and designer based in Kaurna Country whose creative journey spans the UK, Vietnam, and Australia. With a foundation in graphic design, her work radiates vibrancy and a profound connection to colour.

    During the solitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, art became her sanctuary, a way to delve into self-discovery and expression. This transformative period led to her first solo exhibition in Vietnam, exploring themes of self-identity. Inspired by this milestone, she moved to South Australia in 2022 to pursue contemporary art, embracing experimentation and deepening her artistic practice.

    Living far from home has enriched her connection to her heritage and mindfulness practices. Deeply influenced by mindfulness and Buddhism, her work has evolved from structured design to an intuitive, meditative process she calls Moment Art. Rooted in the present moment, by letting go of judgment and pre-determined notions, she lets life unfold naturally through painting, textiles and found objects.

    After three years of solitary practice for self-understanding, Dai Trang has recently begun sharing her work in the local art scene. Her creations reflect her inner journey, inviting viewers to pause, reflect, and connect with their innermost selves.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist.


This residency has support from

 
 
 

The Kayangan Visual Arts Studio Residency is supported by donors Geoff and Sorayya Mahmood Martin.

 

sponsored studio recipien

Visual Arts Studio Residency 2025: Nadera Rasulova

The Mill is thrilled to announce Nadera Rasulova as the recipient of the Visual Arts Studio Residency in the second half of 2025. Nadera Rasulova will receive 6-months of studio space and an exhibition outcome in The Mill’s Gallery II in 2026. The Mill’s Visual Arts Studio Residency is supported by donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin.

  • Nadera Rasulova is an emerging abstract artist whose work explores the intersection of her Central Asian heritage and Australian upbringing.

    Drawing inspiration from Uzbek cultural traditions and Western societal norms, Nadera’s art fosters a dialogue between these two worlds. Her compositions often take the form of patchwork topographies, evoking the diverse natural environments she has encountered throughout her life.

    Her use of upward and downward strokes in oil paint is reminiscent of the intricate techniques of traditional Uzbek silk weaving, reflecting her cultural roots. These gestures, combined with modern abstraction, create works that resonate with themes of memory, identity, and place.

    Sustainability plays a significant role in Nadera’s practice. She consciously works with canvas and linen offcuts, transforming what would typically be discarded into meaningful, purposeful art. This commitment to repurposing materials reflects both her respect for the environment and her dedication to creative innovation.

    In 2022, Nadera’s work Greenwashing was selected as a finalist for the National Emerging Artist Prize, marking a significant milestone in her career. As her practice evolves, Nadera continues to bridge tradition and contemporary issues, producing art that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist.


 

The Visual Arts Residency is presented with support from donors Geoff Martin and Sorayya Mahmood Martin.

 

centre stage residency

Centre Stage Residencies: Announcing the successful 2024 recipients

The Mill is thrilled to announce Poppy Mee and Praise Mangena as the recipients of the 2024 Centre Stage Residencies.

The Centre Stage Residencies are presented in collaboration with Adelaide Fringe as part of their Arts Industry Collaborations program. This unique incubator program is for South Australian artists to progress a new performance work in its second or third stage of development to the next level, culminating in a season at The Mill as part of the 2025 Adelaide Fringe Festival.

About the artists:

  • Poppy Mee is an actor, writer and theatre-maker working on unceded Kaurna land. Since completing her undergraduate training at ACArts in 2017, she has worked as an actor and writer on numerous local and interstate stage and screen projects.

    Credits include Heavy Red, Lucy and DiC and Stateless. In 2019 she was the recipient of a Carclew Fellowship to study theatre-making at Fourth Monkey in London, resulting in her first solo project, A Slight Exaggeration, which premiered at The Mill for Adelaide Fringe 2021. As a member of RUMPUS Theatre she performed in various productions as well as serving as co-head writer on Hamlet In The Other Room (2021).

    Poppy recently undertook specialist training at L'Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France, studying Le Jeu and clowning performance technique. Her second solo work, PSYCHOPOMP: A Cordial Evening with the Messenger God of Hope and Doom, premiered its initial season at The Courtyard of Curiosities at Adelaide Fringe 2024, and is currently holding its second creative development for Fringe 2025, with support from Adelaide Fringe and The Mill. Poppy is a proud MEAA member.

  • Praise Mangena is a multidisciplinary performing artist, based in Kaurna Country-Adelaide, with strong interests in dance and poetry. Over the last three years she has featured in a variety of events and performances such as Word on the Street Vol. 2 (2024), Draw Your (S)words (2024), SA Playwrights Reading Night (2022/24), Mixed Bag Poetry (2023), Soul Lounge (2023), JAUMA FEST (2023) and WOMAD (2022). 

    This year, she debuted as a music video director under the company of Adverse Reign for ‘KABALA’ (by Magajie) and this sets as a continuation of her exploration in art now adding script writing as a skill. She’s continued her work as a creative director in the company playing an integral role in the success of the most recent live show of Word on the Street Vol. 2 which was featured Live at the Lab during the 2024 Illuminate Adelaide Winter Festival. 

    Her journey continues as she prepares to officially launch her project ‘Art is the Medium’ at The Mill Adelaide with musicians Jack Green and Vanté Kay for the 2025 Fringe season. 


 

The Mill’s Centre Stage Residencies are presented in collaboration with Adelaide Fringe as part of their Arts Industry Collaborations program

 
 
 

dancehouse residency

Dancehouse Residency 2024: Alix Kuijpers

The Mill is thrilled to announce Alix Kuijpers as the recipient of the 2024 Dancehouse Residency.

This residency is presented in partnership with Dancehouse (VIC), providing development and performance pathways for South Australian dance-makers. The residency aims to foster national conversations in dance, through participation and exposure and is a way to unite national dance sectors. 

Alix was the 2023 recipient of the Centre Stage Residency, presented in partnership with ARTS Unlimited, the Adelaide Fringe Foundation. During this residency he developed his new work Grim Grinning Ghosts, which he presented as part of the 2024 Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Alix will further develop and present Grim Grinning Ghosts at Dancehouse in Melbourne, October 10 - 19, 2024, as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

About the artist:

  • Alix Kuijpers is an emerging freelance choreographer, performer and sound designer. Kuijpers’ notable achievements include being the first dance honours student at a South Australian institution, and receiving first-class honours from Flinders University for his solo work IMMATERIAL.

    Since graduating from Adelaide College of the Arts, Alix has participated in dance festivals throughout the USA and Europe, performing for Jacob Jonas Company and Thar Be Dragons while overseas. Kuijpers was awarded Best Dance weekly award for his Adelaide Fringe debut ‘i know the end’ and the Emerging Artist Award for Fringe 2023 and toured the work to Melbourne Fringe.

    Alix is passionate about representing as a South Australian artist and champions emerging artist voices through his roles and initiatives as Dance Hub SA's 2023 Associate Artist and as one of Carclew’s 2023 Sharehouse Residents.

Photographer: Morgan Sette


This residency has support from

 
 

industry pathways

First Nations Program Coordinator

The Mill’s First Nations Program Coordinator role is a new industry pathway, focussed on training First Nations artists and arts workers to develop administrative, program coordination, curatorial and producing skills.

The role is mentored by The Mill’s CEO/Artistic Director and Visual Arts Curator, to support the creative development, production and presentation of new work by First Nations artists across The Mill’s multidisciplinary program. 

In 2023 they will play a significant role assisting The Mill’s CEO/Artistic Director Katrina Lazaroff in developing a pilot pathway program for First Nations dance artists. The program will seek support from other First Nations focussed organisations to support First Nations dance artists to develop skills, and enhance the artistic quality and outcomes produced by them individually and within their collectives.

With the support and mentorship from The Mill’s Visual Arts Curator Adele Sliuzas, the role will develop curatorial skills throughout the first half of 2023, with the view to take a leading role in coordinating one exhibition at The Mill as part of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art in October. This high-profile opportunity will develop the intern’s profile and facilitate connection to a breadth of First Nations communities. They will extend their personal and professional connections, as well as those of the artists’ whose work they are producing.

In addition the role will spend time on secondment with The Mill’s partner First Nations organisation Ku Arts as part of the Tarnanthi Art Fair Product Development Program. Here they will develop important social bonds and gain a broader appreciation of sector activity.

Happening now

 
 

The Mill’s First Nations Program Coordinator program is supported by:

 
 

First Nations Program Coordinator 2023: Caleena Sansbury

The Mill is thrilled to announce Caleena Sansbury as the recipient of the 2023 First Nations Program Coordinator role.

The Mill’s First Nations Program Coordinator role is a new industry pathway, focussed on training First Nations artists and arts workers to develop administrative, program coordination, curatorial and producing skills.

  • Caleena Sansbury is a proud Ngarrindjeri, Narungga and Kaurna woman. She is also a proud mother to her three year old son. Caleena’s interests as a performance artist draws from cultural and contemporary dance, theatre, storytelling and choreographing. She is a graduate from NAISDA Dance College. 

    Caleena has worked nationally and internationally with companies/choreographers: Vicki Van Hout in; Long Grass & Les Festivities Lubrufier, Thomas E. S. Kelly; [MIS]CONCEIVE, Karul Projects; SSHIFFT, Insite Arts; Our Corks Bubs & Saltbush, Polyglot Theatre; Tangled and Legs On the Wall; The Man With The Iron Neck. 

    Caleena has also worked as a producer at Melbourne Fringe 2018. Caleena performed in Taree Sansbury’s work as performer in mi:wi touring to South Australia with Country Arts SA and Vitalstatistix. More recently Caleena is currently a dancer and rehearsal director of the South Australian First Nations dance collective Tjarutja. 


the move

The Move: Announcing the 2021 choreographers

The Move is a choreographic commission – a curated initiative of Dance Hub SA, The Mill & Ausdance SA, presented by Adelaide Festival Centre. 

This unique project is the opportunity for choreographers to create works that engage artists and audiences through choreographic process, and to pursue the delivery of choreographic development, seek artistic collaboration, test ambitious ideas in the studio and boldly commit to delivering brave performance works for public presentation. 

Two professional South Australian Choreographers and their artistic teams have been selected to present a double bill of works to be staged at Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre in April 2021. Artist commissions and additional funding for design elements has been funded by ArtsSA.

Congratulations to commissioned artists:

Gabrielle Nankivell selected by The Mill 

Lewis Major selected by Dance Hub SA 


About the artists:

A woman looks at the camera, she has long red hair and wears a necklace and an orange top.

Gabrielle Nankivell

Wonder Grit

Choreography and Direction: Gabrielle Nankivell in collaboration with Jo Stone

Dramaturgical Support: Katrina Lazaroff

Wonder Grit throws contemporary dance at competitive cycling to investigate the nature of loss, injury and motivation in times of uncertainty. The show is an energetic two-hander packed with killer dancing, survival tips and Adelaide’s most strenuous monologue. Featuring crowd sourced data, a deadly treadly and two women with a tonne of experience, Wonder Grit might just be a ride you won’t want to get off.

Being part of The Move is an opportunity to develop some new collaborative connections while contributing something fun to an artistically diverse new program.” Gabrielle Nankivell

www.gabriellenankivell.com


A man looks at the camera, he is wearing a black t-shirt and is in front of a white background.

Lewis Major

Satori

Choreography and Direction: Lewis Major

Dramaturgy: Amanda Philips

Satori is a Japanese term for awakening. The work explores the states of impermanence and imperfection through an ensemble dance work with 3D projection design and stellar dancers. The interconnecting elements transform into a fluidly shifting atmosphere and stage architecture that continually collide, collapse and create.

“The Move is an incredible, rare opportunity: through this program I have been granted the freedom, space and resource to take a scratch idea, to mould it, shape it and play with it, culminating in a fully-fledged professional performance in the leading South Australian performance venue” Lewis Major

www.lewismajor.com


The Move is a performance platform for new choreographic works; founded through the directors from the allied organisations and the Adelaide Festival Centre.

“South Australian independent dance deserves presentation in our state’s highest calibre venue, the Adelaide Festival Centre. The Move is designed to make this possible for freelance artists to shine a light on our local talent.”
Katrina Lazaroff, The Mill Director

“The Move is one of the most exciting, relevant and significant platforms for freelance Choreographers and the future of Dance. The Move validates and supports creative careers, artistic expression and the development and presentation of new Australian work centred in Choreography as an art form.”
Amanda Philips, Artistic Director Dance Hub SA

“The Move grew out of a need for production opportunities for SA professional dance artists. Performing original work at the Festival Theatre was a significant part of my development as an artist and I’m excited to help develop an opportunity like this again. I’m proud to fulfill Ausdance’s brief to support excellence in all forms and genres of dance.” Cathy Adamek, Director Ausdance SA

Photo credits clockwise from top left: Gabrielle Nankivell supplied by the artist; and Lewis Major by Chris Hertzfeld.

five logos are shown, Adelaide Festival Centre, Dance Hub SA, Ausdance SA, Gov of South Australia and The Mill.