SCCI Fashion and Architecture Programme 2022

Supported by the Sherman Family’s not-for-profit Foundation, SCCI: Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas celebrates and explores architecture and fashion as forms of cultural expression via a suite of international, deliberately intimate, high-impact events.

Fashion Hub Opening Keynote: 'The Architecture Of Fashion'
McRae is a science fiction artist, filmmaker, inventor and body architect whose work speculates on the future of human existence by exploring the limits of the body, beauty, biotechnology and the self. McRae works across installation, film, photography, artificial intelligence and edible technology and is regarded as a pioneer who blurs the boundaries across art, architecture, design and technology.

Fashion Hub Closing Keynote: 'The Politics of Dress'
Bishop is Chancellor of Australian National University, the first female to hold this role, and has also been first Australia's female Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Leader of the Federal Liberal Party. Chair of Telethon Kids Institute and Prince's Trust Australia, she is also a member of the international boards of Afiniti, the Human Vaccines Project, and the Patron of Shooting Stars, an education programme for young aboriginal girls.

Architecture Hub Opening Keynote: 'MMXX: Australian Architecture''
Bruhn is the author of 'MMXX: Two Decades of Architecture in Australia' (Thames and Hudson, 2020) and Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland. He is also Editorial Director of Multitudes, a HASSELL monograph celebrating the multidisciplinary international design practice, and co-Editor of 'The Forever House', 'The Terrace House: Reimagined for the Australian Way of Life' and 'The Apartment House'.

Architecture Hub Closing Keynote: 'Australia–UK Connections'
McAslan is founder and executive chairman of the multi-award-winning architecture firm McAslan and Partners and is active in all of its work across studios in London, Edinburgh and Sydney. Expanding the firm’s geographical portfolio of works, McAslan established an office in Australia to deliver the major redevelopment of Sydney Central – the nation’s largest transportation hub and centrepiece for a new cutting-edge tech precinct.

Fashion Hub Talks: 'Fashion in Museums: New Trends & 'Fashioning Identity: A First Nations Perspective'
Fimmano is a trend analyst, curator and writer contributing to Trend Union’s forecasting publications. Alongside Edelkoort, he has co-created exhibitions internationally and co-authored the design book ‘A Labour of Love’ (Lecturis, 2020). He has co-founded ‘Talking Textiles’ to promote innovation in textiles and the ‘World Hope Forum’, a creative platform for community building.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Fashion in Museums: New Trends'; Architecture Hub Talks: 'Private Lives/Public Spaces' & ‘Australia-UK Connections’
A writer, curator, and cultural producer, Merrillees is the author of 'The Woodcutter’s Wife: A Stepmother’s Tale' (Halstead Press, 2007). She is also Global Emissary for SCCI and Director of Western Sydney Creative at Western Sydney University. She was previously CEO of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and Associate Director of Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Changemakers: Australian Pioneers' & 'Born to be Bold: Contemporary Australian Designers'
A writer, filmmaker and presenter, Press runs 'The Wardrobe Crisis' podcast and co-hosts 'Ethical Fashion'. She was the first Vogue Sustainability Editor and Global Ambassador for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 'Make Fashion Circular' initiative. She is the author of 'Wardrobe Crisis, How We Went From Sunday Best to Fast Fashion' and 'Rise & Resist: How to change the world'.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Facing Australia: Self Portraiture and Identity'
Rodgers the outgoing Director of The Photographer's Gallery, the first publicly funded gallery dedicated to photography in the UK. She previously worked as Senior Exhibitions Organiser for the Australian Gallery Director's Council, and later was Deputy Director of Visual Arts at the British Council where she was responsible for establishing the Photography Collection curating a programme of international touring exhibitions on British photography.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Design For Difference'
Rossington is an Architect and Principal of BVN with 30 years of experience in award-winning residential, commercial, educational, interior and sustainable projects. He has tutored at the University of Newcastle and the University of New South Wales. Recent work includes the Greenland Residential Tower, Sydney’s tallest residential tower, and MLC Senior School, which won the 2020 William E Kemp Award.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Art & Fashion'
SCCI Director, cultural impresario and philanthropist, Dr Sherman launched the SCCI Hub Programme in 2018 as a cultural-exchange platform for architecture and fashion and its relationships with other creative disciplines. From 2008–2017, she was Chair and Executive Director of the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation and for two decades directed Sherman Galleries celebrating artists from Australia, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Historic Sites and Contemporary Access' & 'Designers, Artists and Artisans' & 'Elevated Interiors'
In 2005, Todd founded the branding agency concept+image (Paris) and later worked as the Global Director of Branding & Communication for Swarovski. Todd is the Design Editor of the Australian Financial Review newspaper, Creative Director of Sydney Design Week and consults on strategic communication and branding.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Fashioning The Diaspora'
Atem is a Melbourne-based artist originally from South Sudan. Her work has been exhibited at Melbourne's Immigration Museum, NGV's Triennial, Melbourne's winter arts festival Rising, Messum's Gallery (London), as well as Red Hook Labs (New York), Vogue Fashion Fair (Milan), the Unseen Amsterdam art fair and the Southbank's facades in Melbourne. In 2021, she released Banksia, a film exploring African immigration to Australia.

Architecture Hub talk: 'The Regional Reimagined'
Burns's Architecture practice seeks to combine social engagement with design excellence, and is characterised by attention to precise geometry and material exploration. Having received numerous awards, recent commissions include a new cafe in Hyde Park Sydney, Cranbrook School’s rural campus in Wolgan Valley, a series of remote walking lodges in the Tasman Peninsula and a number of large-scale multi-residential developments in Sydney.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Designers, Artists and Artisans'
Cameron is a director, designer and visual artist who directed music videos for bands including the Pet Shop Boys, Garbage and Blur, crafting obscure atmospheres through architecture, objects and furniture. In 2021, he exhibited ‘Communion’, a photo-media series depicting Brutalist watchtowers and churches captured during his travels around the Atlantic Coast of Eastern Europe, with Boris Tosic, invited by Sydney gallerist Sally Dan-Cuthbert.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Historic Sites and Contemporary Access'
Carmody worked for David Chipperfield Architects in London until establishing Carmody Groarke in 2006. The practice has since developed a reputation for working internationally on a wide range of arts, cultural, heritage and residential projects winning multiple competitions and awards. Carmody has taught at several architecture schools, including the University College London and the Royal College of Art.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Fashioning Identity: A First Nations Perspective'
Cowlishaw is an Australian Indigenous visual artist and founder of the sustainable label AARLI, meaning fish in Bardi language. Her family kinship lies with Nyikina, Bardi and Nyul people on the Dampier Peninsula, WA, as well as the Chinese Pirates of Shanghai. At a young age, she witnessed the emergence of the Indigenous fashion industry through the works of Ron Gidgup, Lenore Dembski and Linda Jackson, who still inspire her designs.

Fashion Hub Talk:'Facing Australia: Self Portraiture and Identity'
Gladwell has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2009, at the 53rd Biennale, he represented Australia at the national pavilion, with his exhibition MADDESTMAXIMVS: Planet and Stars Sequence. He has also travelled to Afghanistan as the Australian War Memorial’s Official War Artis. His works include a range of mediums from photography, painting, sculpture and video art to installation, performance, and virtual reality.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Changemakers: Australian Pioneers'
Holm is the founder of A.BCH, a fashion label reengineering the lifecycle of garments for circular systems challenging traditional fashion functions – collections, seasons, pricing, gender, marketing, material innovation and producer responsibility. From the sourcing of fibres to novel design methods, post-purchase care and localised fibre to recycling. She also runs ‘Circular Sourcing’, a platform where A.BCH sells and shares excess raw materials.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Elevated Interiors'
Jackson joined Aesop in 2013 and in 2021, she began her role as Head of Creative in which she manages a team of practitioners across three disciplines: Art Direction, Copy, and Visual Merchandising. The team ideates distinctive installations and campaigns that are executed with artistry and create a moment of delight. She is passionate about design and is convinced that it can unite us and transform our lives.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Private Lives and Public Spaces'
Jacques is an urban designer, landscape architect and Professor at Melbourne’s RMIT School of Architecture and Urban Design where he is currently completing a PhD. In 2016 he founded Openwork, an office undertaking a wide variety of public, landscape and urban design projects which have won significant awards including the Australia Award for Urban Design, The Melbourne Prize and The Bruce Mackenzie Landscape Award.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Private Lives and Public Spaces'
Kalogeropoulos is Director of Molonglo Group, a creative production house focusing on the built realm working with artists, designers and architects to conceive, design, deliver and curate projects which span urban, furniture and product design, hospitality, publishing, public programmes and technology. After consulting for the Commonwealth Commercialisation Task Force and the International Education Foundation, he held senior roles in Government.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Fashioning Identity: A First Nations Perspective'
Kamel, known fondly as ‘Bilum Meri’, founded The Bilum Festival and Goroka Bilum Weavers in Papua New Guinea in 2013, so as to lift her sister weavers and promote Bilum on an international level. She is an integral part of the not-for-profit organisation Among Equals, serving as aggregator and overseeing its communities of weavers along the Sepak River, The Highlands and Telefomin regions.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Design for Difference'
Kaunitz focuses on facilitating high-quality architecture in disadvantaged communities and for First Nations People in Australia and Asia. He has worked in more than 40 Aboriginal communities and prizes include awards such as the Union of International Architects, Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for Implementing Architecture Serving the Impoverished. Each project is co-designed in partnership with communities, NGOs, and Government Agencies.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'First Nations Fashion'
Lee is a multicultural artist and designer moved by her Indigenous heritage. Through collaborations with Australian Indigenous communities, she created First Nations Fashion and Design, a platform for creative expression to engage people from remote communities to celebrate their cultural history through fashion and performance, to guide members towards developing their practice into wearable art and adornment and preserve traditional techniques.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Fashion and Museums'
Linde is a PhD candidate at the School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University. His research project addresses the boutique as a performative space that seeks to expand curatorial and communicative approaches for fashion practice. He has lectured at RMIT University and The New School Parsons School of Design in fashion theory and studio. He previously ran the Centre for Style (CfS), an exhibition space and store for contemporary fashion.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Designers, Artists and Artisans'
Neill is a Tasmanian-born industrial designer based in London. Since establishing his studio in London’s East End, Neill has worked with an impressive roster of clients including Riva 1920, Swarovski and Kundalini, he has collaborated with international brands including Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz and Alexander McQueen, and his limited edition works are included in museums, galleries and private collections around the globe.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Born to be Bold: Contemporary Australian Designers'
Founders of 'Nicol & Ford', an ethically produced demi-couture emerging label focusing on silhouette, textile and texture, they produce classically 'feminine' silhouettes for all gender identities, empowering the social deconstruction of gendered binaries by subverting traditional understandings of glamour. Made to order and to size, and locally sourced designer end fabric, their pieces are slow-paced responses to the fast fashion world.

Architecture Hub talk: 'The Regional Reimagined'
Nielsen is co-Director of Regional Design Service, a multidisciplinary practice he co-founded in 2017 with a focus on delivering meaningful design outcomes for rural and regional communities. The studio has developed a range of community-led, co-designed projects motivated by a passion for a better understanding of how local communities perceive built environments and the responsibilities and benefits of good architecture to make good citizens.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Art & Fashion'
Nithiyendran is a Sri-Lankan-born artist who explores global histories and languages of figurative representation inspired by South Asian imagery and politics relating to idolatry, the monument, gender, race and religion. Known for his signature neo-expressionist and polychromatic work and irreverent approach to ceramic media, he also works with bronze, concrete, neon, LED and fibreglass and other more traditional materials.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Born to be Bold: Contemporary Australian Designers'
Sales and Plunkett are the founders of the fashion label 'Romance Was Born', known for their glimmering fashion paradise collections featuring breathtaking statement pieces with covetable prints, details of appliqué and embroidery, intricate beading and detailed sequinned elements. Wore by stars including Cate Blanchett, Karen O, MIA, Eva Chen, Grimes, and Miley Cyrus, their collections explore the vibrant relationship between fashion and art.

Fashion Hubs Talk: 'Art & Fashion'
Seton’s artistic practice incorporates sculpture, photography, video and installation to examine problematic ideas and concepts and give them form. His artworks playfully sit at the junction of an idea, forcing a choice in the viewer as a litmus test of their own disposition. Seton expands upon the traditions of sculpture by exploring the materiality of marble with works that use the chemistry and properties of marble as poetic devices.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Fashioning Identity: A First Nations Perspective'
Sherman is a textile designer and founder of Among Equals, a social enterprise that merges art and community with fashion and the ancient practice of Bilum weaving. Honouring artisanship, the bags are made from natural fibres and handwoven by local communities across Papua New Guinea. Sherman has also built The Blue Haus, a safe space for the weavers to come together, learn and weave.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Elevated Interiors'
Founded Smart Design Studio in 1997, a multidisciplinary practice comprising over 40 creatives working across master planning for urban centres, multi-unit residential developments, private dwellings, commercial developments, interior fit-outs and product design. Awards include the RAIA NSW Architecture Awards, AIA NSW Architecture Awards, Australian Interior Design Awards and the World Festival of Interiors (INSIDE) Awards.

Fashion Hub Talk: 'Changemakers: Australian Pioneers In Fashion'
Stark is an Australian-born, London-based artist and lingerie couturier who designs custom-made lingerie pieces which sculpt the body so as to enhance perceived imperfections – thereby inspiring new perspectives on the female form. Stark habitually models and photographs her own pieces as a crucial part of her artistic practice. As a costume designer, She also collaborates with stylists to create custom pieces for artist’s performances, editorial and video.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Historic Sites and Contemporary Access'
Co-CEO of BVN and Strategic Champion of Digital Innovation and Robotics, Titchkosky focuses on future scenarios and the possibilities that new technologies offer enabling us to design and build smarter with outcomes that are better for the planet. A member of the Champions of Change Architecture Group, she is interested in the changing nature of architectural practice and its role in shaping our interactions, communities and cities.

Architecture Hub talk: 'Design for Difference'
Co-founded Aileen Sage Architects with Amelia Sage Holliday in 2013 and represented Australia at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. The studio has developed a reputation for design innovation and has been committed to the integration of cultural narratives in architecture, working on a broad range of projects from exhibition design to large city and regional precinct plans working closely with Indigenous consultants and communities.

Architecture Hub talk: 'The Regional Reimagined'
Yeung co-founded Kaunitz Yeung Architecture with her husband in 2009. Born in Hong Kong, and educated in New Zealand and Australia, Yeung has fostered a global outlook in her practice across residential, airports, environment, justice and heritage infrastructure, with expertise in public building, education and health care. Her practice includes using advanced computing techniques for post-disaster reconstruction in developing countries.