8 Wall Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners upon whose unceded lands we live and work. We honour and celebrate the ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to these lands, skies and waterways in which stories, ancestors, and dreamings of First Nations peoples are woven, and pay our utmost respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
Welcome, we're a new project-based contemporary art initiative, 100% supported and run by Indigenous women, dedicated to igniting artists' practices, knowledge sharing, unravelling and entwining cultural and artistic practices. The evolving space offers a diverse curatorial program with ambitious plans to create a not-for-profit structure championing emerging, queer, and Indigenous art on an international scale.
Exhibitions run every 4-6 weeks, focusing on artists' projects and participation from inception. This includes creating artworks on-site, alongside workshops and public programming, such as the upcoming Summer Show (featuring Pearl Austin and Jillian Williams from Umoona Arts, and more). It also includes the Weaving Project, where artists began the project and initiated the space on the 8/8 with a ceremonial karanga.
We're located on Gadigal land in the heart of the Paddington Arts Precinct, alongside the highly respected Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, just above Annette Larkin Fine Art. Please pop in and say hi anytime.
8 Wall Gallery was founded by Samantha Houben, a first-generation Australian with European and Māori (Ngāti Kahu & Te Rarawa) diaspora. Sam is interested in concepts of belonging and decolonisation, with a strong desire to learn more about Indigenous knowledge systems, values, and connecting communities.
Sam is an emerging curator and a co-chair at Schmick Contemporary. She also runs Samantha Houben Arts Advisory, which takes her between Sydney, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and New York, where she seeks new opportunities to engage with contemporary art. After working in commercial galleries, raising her twin girls and studying art (holding a Bachelor of Art History and Theory, a Master's in Digital Media, and starting a Master's in Art Curatorship), Sam hopes this initiative will offer a new, welcoming way to engage with art in our world today and for future generations.
WHY 8 WALL GALLERY?
[*not affiliated]