Franchesca Cubillo, Executive Director, First Nations Arts and Culture, Creative Australia.

The First Nations arts industry has grown exponentially – locally and globally – through self-determination. Critical to this growth is First Nations leadership within the Australia Council for the Arts, now Creative Australia, with the establishment of the First Nations-led Arts Board. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks generate substantial economic value. In 2019–20 $250 million was generated through the sale of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual arts and crafts alone.

But who is making the money and holds the power now?

How have institutions supported First Nations decision-making and control to develop markets and generate economic value (and cultural and social value) for First Nations artists and creative workers?

What practices, frameworks and mindsets have changed over time? What needs to be done to protect First Nations artists and creative workers and support self-determination, decision-making and fair payment?

About the speaker

Franchesca Cubillo is a proud Yanuwa, Larrakia, Bardi, and Wardaman woman from the Top End of the Northern Territory. Ms Cubillo brings to her current leadership role at Creative Australia more than 30 years’ distinguished experience in the museum and art gallery sector during which time she has consistently maintained a commitment towards developing significant First Nations-specific policies and programs that address indigenous advancement, agency and self-determination. Franchesca was a curator at the South Australian Museum, followed by curatorial appointments at the National Museum of Australia, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and the National Gallery of Australia, where she was Senior Curator of Indigenous Art. Franchesca is the inaugural Chair of the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation, the inaugural co-Chair of the National Aboriginal Art Gallery, Alice Springs, and has held numerous board and committee positions. Franchesca is a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow, has published extensively and presented lectures and keynote addresses on subjects such as the repatriation of Australian Indigenous ancestral remains, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture and Australian Indigenous museology and curatorship. She has just returned from Hawaii as part of the Australian delegation to one of the world’s largest cultural gatherings, the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC).

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TIAMSA Melbourne 2024 is proud to acknowledge the generous support of the Australian Institute of Art History in presenting the TIAMSA Melbourne 2024 Keynote Lecture.