© 2014. Olivia Welch lives and works on the unceded traditional lands and waters of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. She acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land and waters, and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

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Curriculum Vitae

 

Employment

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Museums & Galleries of NSW, Sydney, Australia: November 2018 - Present

    Gallery Programs & Touring Exhibitions Coordinator, November 2018 - Present

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MAY SPACE, Sydney, Australia: December 2009 - December 2018 (formerly Brenda May Gallery)

    Special Projects Coordinator (remotely), February 2015 - December 2018

    Senior Gallery Assistant, January 2014 - January 2015

    Gallery Assistant, December 2009 - December 2013

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Calouste Gulbenkian Museum - Modern Collection, Lisbon, Portugal: September 2015 - May 2018

    Assistant Curator, October 2017 - May 2018

    Exhibitions assistant (intern), September 2016 - May 2017

    Work experience, September 2015 - August 2016

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Australia Council for the Arts, Venice Biennale, Italy: July - August 2015

   Exhibition Attendant for the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale: 6 July - 3 August 2015

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Educational Qualifications

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Master of Curating and Cultural Leadership 2020 - Present

University of New South Wales, Art + Design

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Bachelor of Art History and Theory (First-Class Honours), 2010 - 2013

University of New South Wales, Art + Design


Honours Thesis: ‘Reflections of the Australian Indigenous Sovereignty Debate in Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art’­, 2013.The topic of

Indigenous sovereignty provided the focus for a comparative and evaluative study of several Australian Aboriginal artists, including Gordon Hookey, Vernon Ah Kee, Reko Rennie, Richard Bell, Gordon Bennett and Michael Cook, with a particular focus on the photographic work of Darren Siwes, a contemporary artist of Aboriginal and Dutch descent.

       

       Bachelor of Art History and Theory, 2010 – 2012.

       Undergraduate Degree, receiving a Dean’s Award for outstanding achievement from Prof. Ian Howard in 2012 and Prof. Ross Harley 2014.

 

Independent Coursework

  • A Practical Guide to Curating, Maeve Mulrennan, Node Centre for Curatorial Studies, November 2014.

  • How to Make a Book: Art Publications from Start to Finish, John Holton, Node Centre for Curatorial Studies, October 2014.

  • Career Pathways for Curators & Cultural Managers, Kate Brehme (neé Martin), Node Centre for Curatorial Studies, March 2014.

  • Curatorial Procedures: Contracts, Loans & Official Documents, Marc LeBlanc, Node Centre for Curatorial Studies, March 2014.

  • TAFE accreditation for Events Management, 2010.

 

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Curatorial Projects

 

Curator - MAY SPACE

  • Our Common Bond, April - May 2019. An exhibition that looks at the omissions present in the Australian Citizenship booklet of the same name that eliminate diverse histories and experiences from the Australian narrative.

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Assistant Curator - Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

  • 'Post-Pop. Beyond the commonplace' - Pop detours in Portugal and England, 1965-1975, The exhibition departs from Pop Art, as an emblematic and renowned artistic language from the middle of the 20th century, to explore the diversions that various Portuguese and English artists took from it.

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Curator- Brenda May Gallery

  • In Tandem, April - May, 2014. Playing the role of creative matchmaker, this exhibition paired together artists to see what two minds and four hands produce when working in tandem. Media: Eastside FM, The Sun-Herald, Sydney Moring Herald (SMH), Art Almanac.

  • Mighty Small, July 2013. This exhibition was not simply concerned with works that were little, but works that defy the very notion of small meaning less or denoting an absence. Media: TimeOutSydney.com, Central Magazine, DailyTelegraph.com.au, SMH, The Art Life.

 

Co-curator- YOLK Collective

  • ‘OF LIGHT’, July 2012. An exhibition centred on manipulations of light, luminosity and electricity. Media: Two Thousand, Fbi Radio

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Published Writing

  • Contributor of articles: Textile Fibre Forum, Framework, Trouble Mag, Jimmy Rix

  • Catalogue text: Bathurst Regional Gallery, Curator Megan Fizell, Our Common Bond, In Tandem

  • Selected writer: IS THIS ART? catalogue, dLux MediaArts, March 2016

  • Editing translations: Anozero: Bienal de Arte Contemporânea de Coimbra, 2015

  • Selected writer: Archive_ Writer’s Program, June 2014, October 2014

  • Editing text from Annika Öhrner’s Avant-garde in motion, 2015

 

Media and Citations

  • Hannah Donnelly, 'Amala Groom: Cosmic body of remembrance', Artlink. June 2019. Print [Pictured]

  • Emma-Kate Wilson, 'Our Common Bond', Art Almanac, 28 March 2019. Print + online.

  • 'Group Exhibition: Our Common Bond', Art Collector. April 13 2019. Online.

  • Jane O’Sullivan, 'Testing our common bonds', Art Guide. 12 April 2019. Online

  • 'ART Our Common Bond', Sydney Morning Herald. April 2019. Print.

  • Make Nice. 'Olivia Welch, Curator & Writer'. Make Nice. 24 July 2017. Online. [Interview]

  • Tosetto, Riccardo. Shooting Different. riccardotosetto.com. August 2015. Online. [Profiled + Pictured]

  • UNSW Art & Design. 'A&D at the Venice Biennale'. University of New South Wales Art & Design. 13 May 2015. Online.

  • Fairley, Gina. 'Guess who’s going to Venice?'. Visual Art Hub. 30 January 2015. Online.

  • Australia Council for the Arts. 'Life-changing career opportunity for arts professionals'. Ausralia Council for the Arts. 28 January 2015. Online.

  • Wolff, Sharne. 'English Tea Party... gone wrong'. The Art Life.17 October 2014. Online. [Citation referencing: Welch, Olivia. '"My good opinion once lost, is lost forever…” A conversation with Tanmaya Bingham. Unpublished interview. October 2014.]

  • Art Almanac. 'In Tandem'. Art Almanac. May 2014, p 57. Print

  • Elphick, Nicole. The Sydney Morning Herald - Shortlist Planner. April 25 2014, p 6. Print.

  • Elphick, Nicole. 'Tuesday April 22: Going Out'. The Sun-Herald - Unwind. 20 April 2014. Print.

  • Stretch, Angela. Interview with Olivia Welch for 'In Tandem'. Eastside FM. 4 April 2014. Radio.

  • Shetty, Deepika. 'Homegrown artists see brisk sales at start of Art Stage Singapore'. Straits Times. 15 January 2014. Print. [pictured].

  • Wolff, Sharne. 'Mighty Small', The Art Life. 19 July 2013. Online.

  • Fitzgerald, Michael. 'Open Gallery - Mighty Small'. The Sydney Morning Herald - Spectrum. 20-21 July 2013. p 13. Print.

  • Gorman, James. 'Brenda May Gallery plays host to Sydney's smallest art exhibition'.DailyTelegraph.com.au. 23 July 2013. Online.

  • Gorman, James. 'Mini-works Create Huge Appeal'. Central Magazine. 24 July 2013. front cover, p 7. Print.

  • Time Out Sydney. 'Mighty Small'. TimeOutSydney.com. 28 July 2013. Online.

  • Mannan, Aniqa. ‘Collective Thinking Picnic. The Thousands. Dec 2012. Online.

  • Cox, Jesse. Exhibition recommendation of ‘OF LIGHT’. Fbi Radio – Canvas. 15 July 2012. Radio.

  • Small, Bethany. ‘YOLK Collective ‘OF LIGHT’’. The Thousands. 9 July 2012. Online.

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