1 – 4pm
Join artist and curator Nicholas Currie (Mununjali clan of the Yugambeh language group, with connection to Kuku Yalanji) in this workshop, which explores the material and conceptual frameworks interlinked within his practice spanning painting, sculpture and performance. Humour and kindness run as undercurrents throughout his work.
Teachers will explore how Indigenised materials and conceptual thinking affect art practices and the interpretation of contemporary art today. Indigenous pedagogy spans a kaleidoscopic range of thinking in relation to contemporary art, there’s no single fixed approach, but a rich variety of perspectives. In Currie’s practice, material and conceptual frameworks are closely interlinked: the materials the artist uses carry meaning just as much as the ideas behind them. In this workshop, we invite participants to expand their thinking around how this connection might shape and inform their own choices with materials and art making. Together, through hands-on exercises with collage and assemblage and open discussion, teachers have the opportunity to play and explore these ideas with the artist.
This professional learning session equips teachers with adaptable classroom activities and curriculum-aligned approaches that foster experimentation, material inquiry and creative thinking across the Victorian Curriculum F–10, VCE Art Making and Exhibiting, VCE Art Creative Practice study designs and Visual Art Studio. Pre-Service Teachers are also welcome.
Learning Outcomes
By participating in this workshop, teachers will:
- Explore how Indigenous perspectives, materials, symbolism and conceptual thinking can inform contemporary visual arts practice.
- Develop an understanding of how artists communicate ideas, meaning and cultural perspectives through materials, processes, symbolism and visual language.
- Experiment with collage and assemblage to explore how materials, found objects, layering, symbolism and composition can be used to communicate ideas.
- Reflect on their own art-making practices, considering how material choices and processes can influence meaning and interpretation.
- Explore Indigenous pedagogies and consider how ways of knowing, learning and communicating can inform approaches to contemporary art education.
- Analyse and discuss artworks through the perspectives of artist, artwork and audience, considering how cultural and social contexts influence interpretation.
- Develop strategies for incorporating culturally responsive and respectful approaches to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives within visual arts teaching.
- Apply ideas from the workshop to classroom practice, developing opportunities for students to make, respond to and discuss visual artworks.
Where: ACCA
Tickets:
Student Teacher $20 + GST
Teacher $25 + GST
Free for regional teachers
Recommended for Primary and Secondary Visual Art. Pre-Service Teachers are also welcome.
Regional teachers: we’re pleased to be offering a limited number of free spots! To secure a limited free ticket please email ACCA Education, and tell us a little about yourself and your school community.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Nicholas Currie is an artist and curator. As an artist his practice spans painting, sculpture and performance. Currently based in Narrm/Melbourne, he is from the Mununjali clan of the Yugambeh language group, with connection to Kuku Yalanji. Humour and kindness are undercurrents to the major themes addressed in his works: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, hauntology and exploration of identity within current Australia.
Currie has exhibited widely in Narrm/Melbourne, including at Daine Singer, Connors Connors, Sullivan + Strumpf, Futures, Kings Artist Run Space, Blak Dot Gallery, Koorie Heritage Trust, Craft, Incinerator Gallery, Ordinance Gallery, and the Fiona and Sidney Myer Gallery (formerly the Margaret Lawrence Gallery), as well as at Outer Space in Meanjin/Brisbane. In 2025 he presented Stars, Scars, Sagas together with Amelia Griffin-Toovey through the Public Art Melbourne Test Site program.
His work is held in collections including Monash University, Nillumbik Council, and ANZ. Currie has published two artist books with Stray Pages: I can laugh with you (2025) and OBSERVATION NOITAVRESBO (2025). He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from the Victorian College of the Arts.
Nicholas Currie is represented by Daine Singer.
AITSL Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:
Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it
(2.1) Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
Standard 6: Engage in professional learning
(6.2) Engage in professional learning and improve practice
Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
(7.4) Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
