Information

The Fremantle Biennale is a biennial festival of site-responsive contemporary art. Our largely free program presents artworks from Australia and the world, in a festival that reveals and celebrates the cultural, social and historical distinctiveness of the Walyalup (Fremantle) region.

Founded in 2017, the Fremantle Biennale collaborates with artists to commission remarkable and experimental site-responsive contemporary art, across arts forms and practices. We facilitate and create opportunities, connections and transformative experiences between artists, audiences and place.

The Fremantle Biennale takes place on the unceded lands and waters of the Whadjuk people of the Nyoongar nation. We acknowledge the Whadjuk people as the traditional owners of the Walyalup area. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging, and respect the living culture and heritage of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Fremantle Biennale is held every two years in the Nyoongar season of Kambarang (November). The last Fremantle Biennale, SANCTUARY 25, took place from 13 – 30 November 2025. The next Fremantle Biennale will take place in November 2027.

Complementing our core program, the Fremantle Biennale also presents touring projects across WA and Australia, including the First Lights project.

The Fremantle Biennale is a not-for-profit charity, delivered every two years through the generosity of our funders, partners and donors. We’re incredibly grateful for all contributions, which help us create extraordinary arts and cultural experiences across Walyalup (Fremantle).

BENEFACTORS

For individuals able to give more, the Fremantle Biennale benefactor program offers special benefits to those donating $2,000 and over. Benefactors will receive exclusive invitations to the program launch and opening event and will have early access to ticketed performances programmed during the Fremantle Biennale in November – plus – all benefactors will be recognised on our website. If you would like to become a benefactor of the Fremantle Biennale, please email tom@fremantlebiennale.com.au.

Alternatively, if you are a business or organisation keen to partner with the Fremantle Biennale, please email tom@fremantlebiennale.com.au to discuss opportunities.

The Fremantle Biennale is committed to on-going learning and adaptability around access, cultural diversity and inclusion to ensure that everyone feels invited to and can participate in our festival.

The Fremantle Biennale offers different access and assistive services across our program and events. See the drop-down Access menu on each project page and look out for the below icons to learn more of what is on offer.

Auslan Interpreting

Auslan interpreting is provided at a number of our talks, performances and events. Look for the Auslan symbol displayed on the event page.

Audio Described & Assistive Listening Performances

Open Captioning

Open captioning allows people who are hard of hearing or Deaf to read accurate text displays of a performance or event on a screen.

Tactile Tours

A number of specialist Tactile tours are held across Fremante Biennale events. These tours allow people who are blind or have low vision to experience an event through touch, sound and conversation.

100 eye

No music or dialogue, or all dialogue is open captioned

75 eye

No music or sounds. Access to spoken word provided by open caption and/or script.

50 eye

May have music or sounds in the background. Open caption, scripts and descriptions are provided.

 

VENUE ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair accessible

This indicates that the venue/location is accessible for people with limited mobility, including wheelchairs. If this symbol is not listed on an event, access may be limited, so please contact us for more information.

Assistive access

This symbol indicates that assistance from a Companion is likely necessary for wheelchair users to navigate a space. Please see the Access information on each event page for more information.

We also recommend visiting transperth.wa.gov.au for up-to-date information on accessible transport to and from all our events.

The Fremantle Biennale recognises that a festival is and should be created with contributions from many voices. Our organisation centres on-going learning and adaptability across access, cultural diversity, and inclusivity to ensure our communities are represented in, invited to, and can participate in our program.

We consider ourselves a collective and a community made up of artists, writers, curators, partners, board members, advisors, and guides. Since its inception the Biennale has convened an Advisory Panel, a panel of experts from across Australia, including artists, creatives, architects, community members and stakeholders who support our staff and contribute to embedding diverse artists, perspectives, and experiences within our program.

The Biennale acknowledges and engages with Whadjuk Nyoongar Traditional Owners, their story-sharing, and ways of knowing in an effort to contribute to the cultural and environmental wellbeing and sustainability of Walyalup (Fremantle), its lands and waters. We believe the voices, wisdom, cultural knowledge, and leadership of First Nation people should be embedded in our festival. Listening to place, and acknowledging the past to enable truthful futures, are guiding principles for our festival.

The Fremantle Biennale is engaged in an on-going process of conversations between artists, Walyalup Elders and Cultural Knowledge holders, which have and will continue to guide our festival. Read about our current Cultural Advisory and Advisory Panels under People.

STAFF

Tom Mùller – Artistic Director, Co-Founder & CEO

Tom is an established multi-disciplinary artist with an active international practice spanning the realms of site-responsive and temporal projects. His work has been included in major exhibitions and institutions including The National at Carriageworks, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Adelaide Biennial, Biennale de la Chaux-de-Fonds, and the upcoming Northern Alps Triennale in Japan. He has been the recipient of multiple Australia Council grants, the inaugural winner of the Qantas Contemporary Art prize, and a mid-career fellowship from the Department of Culture and the Arts. In 2009, he was awarded the Basel international residency program through the Christoph Merian Stiftung. Tom was mentored by the Russian-American conceptual artist Ilya Kabakov in New York, and studied Anthroposophy at Emerson College in London. Tom co-founded the Fremantle Biennale in 2017.

Katherine Wilkinson – Executive Producer

Katherine is a creative producer and curator working across socially engaged, site-responsive, live and visual contemporary art practices. Alongside her role as the Program Director for the Fremantle Biennale, she works on independent projects and as a Creative Producer with Perth Festival (Killa, 2025; EverNow 2024; Witness Stand, 2021; Five Short Blasts, 2019). Previously she was the Curator at DADAA, and the Special Projects Curator at Fremantle Arts Centre. Her most recent projects centre place, water and care. Katherine has worked on collaborative projects, and held positions with organisations including; Artsource, International Art Space, the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, the Perth Public Art Foundation, the City of Melville, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Venice Biennale. Katherine works, lives and swims on the lands and waters of the Whadjuk people of the Nyoongar nation.

Annika Kristensen – Curator

Annika Kristensen is an experienced writer and curator with a particular interest in commissioning new work by contemporary artists.

Most recently in the position of Visual Arts Curator at Perth Festival (2023 and 2024), Annika was previously Senior Curator at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) in Melbourne, where she worked with major international and Australian artists to commission new work and curate significant solo and group exhibitions.

Recent exhibitions at ACCA include Laure Prouvost: Oui Move in You (with Max Delany, 2024); Like a Wheel That Turns (with Max Delany, 2023); Frances Barrett: Meatus (2022); Who’s Afraid of Public Space? (with Max Delany and Miriam Kelly 2021-22); Jeremy Deller: Father and Son (with Max Delany, 2021); Haroon Mirza: The Construction of an Act (2019); The Theatre is Lying (with Max Delany, 2018-19); Eva Rothschild: Kosmos (with Max Delany, 2018); Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism (with Paola Balla, Max Delany, Julie Ewington, Vikki McInnes and Elvis Richardson, 2017–18); Greater Together (2017); Claire Lambe: Mother Holding Something Horrific (with Max Delany, 2017) and NEW16 (2016).

Annika was Exhibition and Project Coordinator for the 19th Biennale of Sydney (2014) and the inaugural Nick Waterlow OAM Curatorial Fellow for the 18th Biennale of Sydney (2012). She has also held positions at Frieze Art Fair, Artangel, Film and Video Umbrella, London; and The West Australian newspaper, Perth. Annika holds an MSc In Art History, Theory and Display from the University of Edinburgh, following undergraduate studies in Arts (Communication Studies) at the University of Western Australia.

Odetta Davison – Creative Producer

Anaïs Bellini – Producer, Creative Learning Producer & Communications Coordinator

Anaïs Bellini is a producer working across creative learning, communications and the delivery of site-responsive contemporary art. At Fremantle Biennale, she supports the development and realisation of artworks, creative learning programs and public programs, while leading the organisation’s communications and marketing.

Her practice centres on connecting artists, audiences and place — shaping how projects are experienced, shared and engaged with. She works with artists, educators and communities to deliver learning programs and public outcomes that are accessible, inclusive and grounded in lived experience.

With a background in film and screen production, Anaïs brings a strong focus on storytelling, visual communication and audience experience to her work in the arts.

Prinitha Govender – External Affairs

Prinitha Govender runs the external affairs of Fremantle Biennale, primarily focused on our benefactors and donations, building and maintain relationships with key external stakeholders. She also manages our benefactor and sponsorship events in partnership with key stakeholders.

BOARD

Ella McNeill – Chair

Senior arts management professional and independent consultant across arts, not for profit, impact and philanthropy, specialising in strategy and business planning. Previously the Director of Arts & Culture at Minderoo Foundation, one of Australasian’s largest philanthropies, and CEO of the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, Ella’s experience spans the private, public and NFP sector, working with some of the largest art organisations around the globe. Passionate about creating meaningful social change and a better world for us all to live in, in particular through artistic means.

Ariane Palassis – Deputy Chair

Receiving her Masters in Architecture from The University of Western Australia gave Ariane a broad skill base coupled with an appreciation for materiality and the details of construction. While practising, Palassis worked on a wide range of projects, from new residential and commercial developments to conservation works on some of WA’s most important heritage sites. These include Fremantle Prison, Sunset Hospital and the Midland Railway Workshops. In developing her own art practice, Ariane has continued to follow her architectural interest in the analysis of place as a repository of human memory and experience. Being Australian with Greek heritage, the displaced old-world rituals and the value of family mythologies and cultural traditions have played a large role in her work.

Craig Yaxley – Treasurer

Craig is a tax partner with KPMG, with over 30 years’ experience in finance, tax and accounting. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Chartered Tax Advisor, and a member of the Board of Taxation. Craig was previously a board member and treasurer of Black Swan State Theatre Company, and is a member of the KPMG Perth Art Committee.

Marcus Holmes – Secretary

Marcus is Principal of law firm Land Equity Legal. Marcus’ key role on the board is assisting with governance, compliance, risk management and developing and reviewing artists’ and sponsors’ contracts. He works with Aboriginal boards on similar work in the Native Title arena, including in development of corporate policies and procedures. Marcus is also involved in working with local government engaging with the Nyoongar native title settlement and Victoria’s proposed treaty.

Prof Chanelle van den Berge

Professor Chanelle van den Berg is a Binjareb Noongar woman and the Pro Vice Chancellor First Nations at Murdoch University. With a background in primary and early childhood education as well as extensive experience in Indigenous leadership, she is committed to embedding First Nations excellence across the institution. Professor van den Berg has led the development and implementation of Murdoch’s First Nations Strategy, with a vision to establish the university as the First Choice for First Nations peoples in research, education, and engagement. Since being at Murdoch, she has developed and led the Indigenous and non-Indigenous student success strategic initiative, strengthened enabling pathways, drove the establishment of the School of Indigenous Knowledges, overseen strong growth in Indigenous student and staff numbers and strengthened culturally responsive practices and engagement across the university. Her leadership has positioned Murdoch as a sector leader in community engagement, student support, and Indigenous-led teaching and learning.

Sharyn Egan

Sharyn Egan is a renowned Noongar artist whose work explores themes of identity, healing, and connection to Country. Known for her use of natural materials and traditional techniques, Sharyn’s installations and artworks have been featured in major exhibitions such as the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial. Her artistic contributions to KARRIKIN will focus on creating visual motifs that connect the audience to the cultural and environmental narratives of Noongar Country, bringing depth and authenticity to the performance.

Spencer Flay

Spencer is a Fremantle local and a partner at the global law firm Clifford Chance. He has joined the board after providing the Fremantle Biennale with legal advice for a number of years, including in setting up First Lights. Spencer is passionate about making the arts accessible to all, and in particular within the Fremantle community. He has previously held a number of board positions, most recently as a member of the board for the Fremantle Language Development Centre.

Pete Stone

Pete is a Fremantle local with 20 years of arts management, programming and production experience. Pete has a unique understanding and love of Fremantle and how it connects with its local and global community. The role that cross-organisational collaboration can play in unlocking the potential to realise ambitious programming is one of Pete’s driving passions. He is strongly committed to connecting more people to the arts through inviting and challenging programming. Pete’s previous positions include General Manager at Fremantle Arts Centre, Manager of Arts and Culture at the City of Fremantle, Producer at Perth Festival and Creative Producer, Arts and Culture at the City of Melville. His current role is Director, Creative Arts and Community at the City of Fremantle. Previous board experience includes terms as board member and President of West Australian Music (WAM). Pete has also worked on contemporary music grant assessment panels for state government funding.

ADVISORY PANEL

The Advisory group is a panel of experts from across Australia who advise the Fremantle Biennale on matters of artistic, ethical and cultural programming. Our 2026-27 panel members are yet to be appointed.

CULTURAL ADVISORY PANEL

Ilona McGuire

Ilona McGuire is a multidisciplinary artist of Noongar and Kungarakan lineage. She is deeply fascinated by the social impacts of the Australian colony on Indigenous peoples and whoever calls Australia home. To encourage understanding of the humanity of the dehumanised, Ilona observes our shared histories through the intergenerational stories of her family. In an attempt to recover, reenergise and reimagine conversation that might encourage some and inform others, whilst some will remain indifferent. Ilona continues to explore mixed-medium installation, ephemeral work, performance and social practice as reclamation of space and time for joy and celebration as resistance to colonial anguish.

Following her light show, Moombaki at the Fremantle Biennale’s 2021 festival CROSSING 21, Ilona was awarded the Schenberg Art Fellowship for Hatched (PICA) in her BA Fine Art graduating year. Going on to exhibit at Stala Contemporary, Fremantle Arts Centre, The National 4: Australian Art Now (2023), John Curtin Gallery, Cool Change Contemporary and creating a sequel light show for Moombaki, Kooranup for the 2023 Fremantle Biennale festival SIGNALS 23. Ilona’s work now features in collections such as Janet Holmes à Court’s and the John Curtin Gallery.

Aurora Abraham

As a Whadjuk Noongar woman, Aurora maintains deep connections throughout the Noongar nation and wider Aboriginal communities. Her expertise and experience across the arts and Aboriginal health sectors reflects her sense of pride and care in both her professional and personal endeavours. Currently at Western Australian General Practice Education and Training (WAGPET), Aurora works in Aboriginal Health Training Coordination and Cultural Mentorship. Through supporting health professionals and bridging gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, Aurora is committed to culturally appropriate outcomes. Furthermore, Aurora’s artistic practice is grounded in expression of cultural knowledge, pride, and her love for storytelling. Often exploring themes of culture, family and boodja (land) her artworks have featured throughout Perth. Along with Noongar artist group Deadly Dozen, her public artwork exhibited at Elizabeth Quay in response to her relationship to the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River).

Walter McGuire Jnr.

Walter McGuire is a descendent of several tribal groups in the Southwest of WA, Walter is a Traditional Owner of Nyoongar Boodjar which includes the Whadjuk lands on which Perth City stands. Walter is a strong advocate and example of self-determination. In 1998, he graduated university with a Bachelor of Applied Science (ACM DP) (Curtin University). He also holds a Cert IV in Training and Assessment (2015) and was a lecturer and mentor until he decided to work for himself as hard as he’d worked for others. Walter is now owner/operator of the multi award winning tourism business – Go Cultural Aboriginal Tours and Experiences – offering authentic experiences to visitors to Perth at a range of locations: Elizabeth Quay, Kings Park, Yagan Square and Rottnest Island. As principal guide and traditional owner of Perth region, Walter is focussed on providing world-class authentic cultural walking tours and experiences to local, interstate, and international visitors alike. With his tourism venture, Walter has literally made it his business to promote and help sustain Aboriginal culture through his city tours, cultural presentations, and advisory service.

The Fremantle Biennale is created by a team of artists, producers and curators who are committed to creating a working environment and festival that foregrounds diversity and community.

If you are interested in volunteering for the Fremantle Biennale, please keep an eye on our social media channels, as we do a call out for volunteers prior to each festival.

AVAILABLE POSITIONS

No positions are currently available.

2019
2021
2023
2025

For general enquiries, contact info@fremantlebiennale.com.au

OFFICE

8A Cantonment St
Fremantle WA 6160
Australia

Stay up to date with the latest Fremantle Biennale news!