People
Thea Baumann
Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer
She/her
Thea-Mai Baumann joined 4A as Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer in February 2023.
She is a creative executive, artist, creative technologist and producer of Vietnamese-Swiss heritage. Between 2019-2022, she was Manager and Senior Manager of International Engagement at the Australia Council for the Arts where she co-designed and led the launch of the International Engagement Strategy 2021-25, and provided oversight of strategic investments in Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific. Between 2012-2019, Thea was CEO and Founder of world-first hologram brands Metaverse Makeovers® and 超宇美人® based between Melbourne, Shanghai, and Hong Kong where she led the commercialisation of augmented-reality innovation Metaverse Nails.
thea.baumann[@]4a.com.au
Grey Yeoh
Finance and Operations Manager
He/him
Grey Yeoh is an international arts & culture manager & producer, specialising in performing arts & visual arts. His vast arts network extends to North, South & Southeast Asia, Australia & Europe. He has more than 20 years of experience managing the arts in some of the world’s most important international cultural organisations including the Asia-Europe Foundation, the Australia Council for the Arts, National Gallery Singapore, the British Council and more. He has an MA in Arts & Cultural Leadership at LASALLE College of the Arts, a programme with Goldsmiths University of London. He wrote his thesis on the Creative Industries Policy of Malaysia 2010-2015. He has been invited to give lectures and presentations in many universities and colleges in Australia, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
grey.yeoh[@]4a.com.au
Con Gerakaris
Curatorial Program Manager
He/him
Con is a curator, arts administrator and writer. His areas of interest frequently revolve around social phenomena, subcultures, contemporary urban experiences and our relationship to the built environment. Con has curated NUW🌏RLDS (2024); Dr Christian Thompson AO: House of Gold (2024); YEAR OF THE DRAGON [龙年] (2024); Louise Zhang: No dust left in the lilies (2023); Rel Pham: Cache (2023); NO FALSE IDOLS (2022); New Energy (2022); Acute Actions: Responses to I Am Not A Virus (2021); James Jirat Patradoon: ULTRA (2021); Holding Patterns (2020); DARK FANTASY (2019) and Chris Yee: HI MEDUSA! (2019) for 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Independently, he curated the exhibitions D A R K S E A – Lynn Nguyen and J.S.D. Andrews (2019), goodspace, Chippendale; CITIZENS OF NO PLACE (2018), Down/Under Space, Chippendale; and IT’S PRONOUNCED “GIF” NOT “GIF” (2017), goodspace, Chippendale. Con programmed the inaugural Club 4A for Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival 2018 and instigated, curated and produced for 4A Digital since 2020. He has published articles for 4A Papers, un. extended, Runway Conversations and Art Collector. Con completed a Bachelor of Arts (HONS) in 2013 and a Master of Art Curating in 2016 at the University of Sydney.
con.gerakaris[@]4a.com.au
Saira Krishan
Operations Coordinator
She/they
Saira Krishan is an arts worker and writer with experience in various Eora-based arts institutions including Artspace, Art Almanac and Powerhouse Ultimo. She is currently enrolled in a Master of Curating and Cultural Leadership at UNSW Art & Design, with particular curatorial interest in art from South Asia and its diaspora. Her broader academic interests range from architecture and philosophy to phenomenology and object-oriented ontology. She completed a Bachelor of Art Theory at UNSW Art & Design in 2018, and has written extensively about art, film, architecture and events throughout her career.
Reina Takeuchi
Curatorial Program Producer
She/her
Reina Takeuchi is an Australian-Japanese artist-researcher, curator and dance maker interested in interdisciplinary collaboration. Influenced by her experiences living peripatetically across East and Southeast Asia during her youth, Takeuchi uses an auto-ethnographic approach to her art/performance processes. Her practice spans across visual arts, choreography, curatorial projects, written publications and creative facilitation. She has contributed to publications including Ausdance Qld, Delving into Dance, Eyeline Contemporary Visual Art magazine, 4A Papers and Runway Journal. Her curatorial projects have included installations at Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, and Holding Patterns, Truc Truong: hai con lân việt kiều, and Acute Actions: Responses to I Am Not A Virus with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Takeuchi holds a Master of Philosophy in Creative Practice from QUT, Advanced Diploma in Dance Performance from the Sydney Dance Company Pre-Professional Year and is currently a PhD candidate at QUT, focussing on Asia-Pacific performance and curatorial projects.
reina.takeuchi[@]4a.com.au
Faye Chen
Marketing Coordinator
She/her
With lived and professional experience in both Australia and Asia, Faye takes influence by both cultures emerging and traditional. In all forms of her explorations in art, work and personality, passion and vigour is matched by an implicit and subtle methodology. Previously Faye worked in marketing for City Magazine (號外) in Hong Kong, participating on projects including The Hong Kong Art Fair and The Retrospective of Outstanding Hong Kong Artists. Faye initially graduated from the University of New South Wales with a B.A. in Media, Culture and Technology and sought to broaden her horizons of research in theory and practice by completing a Master degree in Art Curating at the University of Sydney. Faye completed curatorial internships during her degree at the Penrith Regional Gallery and post-graduation with the National Gallery of Singapore where she assisted to develop the concept of Tropical Modernism.
faye.chen[@]4a.com.au
Astrini Alias
Gallery Assistant
she/her
Astrini Alias is an arts worker, educator, and creative with a background in contemporary art, education, and museum administration. She is passionate about dynamic programming through creating dialogues and storytelling surrounding community-led voices to help make art and arts institutions more accessible and meaningful to a broader population.
With contributions to organisations like Sydney Contemporary, Powerhouse Museum, National Gallery Singapore, Junction Arts Festival Tasmania and Playeum! she has demonstrated a strong commitment to innovative programming, museum administration and curatorial practices. She has also published a book highlighting diverse voices in combat sports titled, "CHOKE CLINCH CRANK COMBAT" where she serves as the Creative Director determining the creative vision, designing collaterals, building programming and securing partnerships with various sponsors.
Academically, Astrini holds teaching credentials, a Bachelor's in Contemporary Art from the University of Tasmania, and a Master's in Museum Studies & Curatorial Practices from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her notable achievements include a curatorial internship at the Powerhouse Museum, a finalist in the RACT Tasmanian Portraiture Prize Award, and her work acquired by Gallery Pejean.
Lleah Smith
Artistic Lead: 4A Generations
she/her
Lleah Smith practices at the intersection of pedagogy, art, and the curatorial. She has made significant contributions in Australia and Asia, working independently and through institutional roles. Her PhD research at Monash University and the University of Illinois aims to agitate the pedagogy, art, and curatorial relationship by positioning fermentation as a teacher, speculative metaphor and guiding force for change. Smith is dedicated to creating spaces that foster productive agitation within caring environments that enable difference to flourish.
Notably, Smith will curate the forthcoming anti-symposium; arts pedagogy as social practice, Malmö Konstmuseum (2025). She has realised the Radical Care Kit, Sydney Children’s Hospital (2023-2024), The Waterhouse, 23rd Biennale of Sydney, rīvus (2021-2022), Kaldor Studio, Kaldor Public Art Projects x Art Gallery of NSW (2019), do it (homework), Kaldor Public Art Projects (2018). Leading socially engaged art projects include, Hidden Lessons, Powerhouse (2021-2022), FUTURE SCHOOL, Cementa22 (2022).
Julie Ewington
Chair
Julie Ewington is a specialist on contemporary Australian art, working in Sydney as an independent writer and curator. From 1997-2014 she worked at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, leading its Australian art department from 2001, and contributing as a curator to the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art series of exhibitions between 1996-2012, with a special emphasis on artists from Southeast Asia. Over four decades she has also contributed to the Australian cultural field as an academic, including at the University of Sydney, and through arts organisations including the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council (1994-8). Julie was a founder member of the Women’s Art Movement, Adelaide (1976) and the Artworkers Union, Sydney (1979-80), and is currently on the Board of the Samstag Museum, Adelaide. In 2014 she was awarded the Emeritus Medal for her work as a writer, curator and advocate from the Australia Council’s Visual Arts Board.
Elizabeth Pakchung
Deputy Chair
Elizabeth Pakchung is a company director, lawyer, and supporter of Fashion, Art and Architecture. She is currently a Member of the Board of tthe National Portrait Gallery and also a Director of H&M Australia & NZ (part of the global fashion H& M Group), Oranges & Sardines Foundation, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, and SHARE SMR Inc.
Elizabeth is also a supporter of Australia at the Venice Art Biennale and theNational Gallery of Australia, a Patron of the Sherman Centre for Culture & Ideas, and is a Member of the International Women’s Forum, and the Institute of Company Directors. Prior to her director career, Elizabeth was a corporate lawyer at global law firm Ashurst (formerly Blake Dawson) for over 25 years and was a partner of the firm for many years.
Adrian Williams
Treasurer
Adrian Williams has 30 years’ experience in finance and accountingwithin large Australian and global organisations. He is currently Chief Financial Officer of New Forests Asset Management. He was previously Head of Finance, AMP Capital Real Estate and Head of Corporate Responsibility and Business Platform, AMP Capital Real Estate. Throughout his career, Adrian has led large teams through periods of significant cultural, system and organisational change. Emphases on continuous improvement and awareness of trends in the external marketplace have also been cornerstones of his approach.
John Choi
Board member
John Choi is co-founder of CHROFI, a dynamic architectural practice that operates across a wide portfolio from houses to cities. Established in 2000, the practice’s founding design, TKTS booth at centre of Times Square in New York, has been widely recognised for its design excellence and innovation, from fields as varied as planning, architecture, branding, public space and tourism. Awards include New York Art Commission Award, World Architectural Festival Award, Jørn Utzon Award for International Architecture, and has been cited as New York’s Building of the Decade. Other key projects include Stamford on Macquarie, Lune de Sang, The Goods Line with Aspect Studios, Millstream Lookout and Mona Vale House. In 2012, John was nominated for the Iakov Chernikhov Prize and in 2014, was prize recipient in AR International Award for Emerging Architecture. John has lectured extensively on architectural design, is Adjunct Professor of Architecture at University of Sydney, and serves on Sydney Olympic Park Authority Design Review Panel.
Caroline Choy
Board member
Caroline Choy is a Project Director for Stockland’s commercial property business with over 20 years experience in the real estate industry, holding previous roles with AMP Capital and Westfield. She joins the 4A Board with a keen interest in the arts and having also worked previously on projects for the Australian National Maritime Museum, Australian War Memorial, Powerhouse Museum, and South Australian Museum.
Nusra Latif Qureshi
Board member
As an artist Nusra’s practice has developed through an in-depth study of conventional South Asian painting techniques in conjunction with image manipulation softwares. Her work ranges from small, highly detailed paintings to large scale digital prints that engage with the visual histories of South Asian region and Australian culture, pulling apart and reconfiguring the found patterns to construct new narratives.
Her extensive exhibition history includes shows in Australia, USA, Europe and Asia. Nusra’s work features in several private and institutional collections around the world, including the British Museum, National Gallery of Victoria, QAGOMA, and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. She has been designing and offering public programs including lectures, artist’s talks and workshops in collaboration with art institutions on an ongoing basis. In 2019, her design was selected for the ART Tram project as part of Melbourne Art Festival; Nusra was the recipient of Bulgari Art Award in the same year.
Michael Rolfe
Board member
Now retired, Michael Rolfe was CEO of Museums and Galleries of NSW from October 2010 to December 2020, and has over 30 years experience working primarily in the visual arts. Rolfe brings an in-depth overview of funding, governance and policy, and importantly, a commitment to supporting art and artists.
Alumni
Previous Directors
Melissa Chiu, 1999 – 2001
Gia Nghi Phung, 2002
Linda Goodman, 2003 – 2004
Binghui Huangfu, 2004 – 2006
Aaron Seeto, 2008 – 2015
Mikala Tai, 2015 – 2020
Amrit Kaur Gill, 2020 – 2023
Previous staff
Melissa Chiu, Curator, 1996 – 1999
Vicente Butron, Project Manager, 1996-1998
My Le Thi, Assistant, 1997 – 1999
Tiffany Lee- Shoy, Assistant Curator, 1999 – 2001
Aaron Seeto, Gallery Assistant / Curator, 2001 – 2004
Gia Nghi Phung, Gallery Assistant / Gallery Manager/ Acting Director, 2000 – 2001
Jennifer Kwok, Marketing & Public Relations, 1999 – 2003
Natalie Seiz, Administration Coordinator, 2001 – 2002
Jacqueline Thomas, Gallery Assistant, 2001 – 2003
Adelle Kilian, Administration, 2005
Brianna Munting, Administration, 2005
Owen Leong, Administration, 2005
Imogen Yang, Acting Gallery Manager, 2006-2007
Evelyn Liong, Gallery Coordinator, 2006
Julia Flanagan, Gallery Coordinator, 2006 – 2008
Tom Sylva, Administration, 2006
Luke Leonard, Administration, 2006
Rod Murray, Gallery Manager, 2006
Yeehwan Yeoh, Gallery Coordinator, 2007 – 2009
Summar Hipworth, Program Manager, 2009 – 2012
Annette Wiguna, Community Projects Officer, 2010
Simon Soon, Community Projects Officer, 2011 – 2012
Yangping Zhang, Gallery Assistant, 2008 – 2010
Samuel Zammit, Gallery Assistant / Gallery Coordinator / Program Coordinator, 2010 – 2013
Yu Ye Wu, Gallery Assistant / Communications Assistant / Marketing & Communications Coordinator, 2008 – 2015
Yuting Chen Intern/Project Assistant 2014
Joanna Bayndrian, Marketing & Gallery Assistant, 2015
Ashanti Fogden, Marketing & Gallery Assistant, 2015
Jessica Kostera, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, 2015 – 2016
Dean Worthington, Marketing Project Manager, 2016
Toby Chapman, Community Projects Officer / Assistant Curator / Curator, 2011 – 2016
Isabelle Hore-Thorburn, Gallery Assistant – Research, 2016 – 2017
Harriet Reid, Gallery Assistant – Research, 2016 – 2017
Pedro de Almeida, Program Manager / Business Manager, 2012 – 2019
Micheal Do, Assistant Curator, 2016 – 2020
Kai Wasikowski, Operations and Production Coordinator, 2017 – 2020
Robert Henningham, Marketing and Programs Coordinator, 2019 – 2020
Bridie Moran, Stakeholder Manager, May 2021 - December 2021; Acting Director, November 2019 - January 2021; Engagement and Development Manager, 2017-2019; Manager, Development, Communications and Marketing, 2016-2017.
Nicole Beck, Gallery Assistant, 2019 - 2022
Rujunko Pugh, Gallery Assistant, 2020 - 2021
Nuala Furtado, General Manager, 2021 - 2022
Mariam Ella Arcilla, Communications and Engagement Manager, 2020 - 2023
Sineenart Meena, Gallery Assistant, 2022 -2023
Dilpreet Kaur Taggar, Communications and Engagement Manager, 2023 - 2024
Celine Cheung, Gallery Assistant, 2020 - 2024
Yuna Lee, Gallery Assistant, 2022 - 2024
Nolan Ho Wung Murphy, 2022 - 2024
Connor Xia, 2022 -2024
Bhanuraj Kashyap, 2023 - 2024