Our Judges
2026
for
Paul Howard
Paul is an award-winning curator, writer, artist and educator with 30 years’ experience curating exhibitions, leading art engagement programs, and managing collections in institutions at regional, national and international levels. He is currently the Curator and Collection Manager at Blacktown Arts, leading a collections strategy for Blacktown City Council.
Since arriving in Australia 13 years ago, Paul’s exhibitions have covered a wide ground with a focus on culturally diverse contemporary art practice.
Recent examples include:
• the Terra inFirma series of exhibitions and performance programs that explored the impact of the bicentenary of James Cook’s arrival on First Nations’ and diverse communities in Blacktown;
• Daneha (Seeds): Contemporary art by Afghan Australian artists;
• Balik Bayan: Contemporary Art of the Philippines;
• the series It’s Our Thing: More History on Australian Hip Hop, which compared early Hip Hop in Western Sydney with current practice;
• It’s Timely and It’s Timely Too delved into Gough Whitlam’s seminal 1970s speeches in Blacktown through artists’ eyes;
• and The Native Institute which explored artistic interventions on the Blacktown Native Institution site and the transfer of land ownership to the Dharug people.
As a Curator at Tate Modern in the UK, Paul led the Tate’s national and pan-European projects on new digital pathways through shared institutional collections. He has also curated exhibitions for Arts Council England, the National Trust and independent galleries in London.
Exhibitions of Paul’s artwork have toured nationally and internationally on five continents. His commissions have included an interdisciplinary collaboration that toured the UK, Poland and Australia, and a new work for the permanent exhibition, London, Sugar and Slavery at the Museum of London.
His writing on art, artists and audiences has been published in journals, catalogues and e-books, translated into Mandarin, and presented at conferences and symposia in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Paul is an external examiner at the University of New South Wales, a Board member of the Regional and Public Galleries Association of New South Wales, and a peer registrar for Museums and Galleries New South Wales.
Katherine Kennedy
Katherine Kennedy has 16+ years of arts industry experience in Australia and New Zealand. She has had placements in private and public galleries, worked on public events, art advisories, not-for-profits and community art centres. She has curated a number of major projects and has created exhibition experiences for Australian and New Zealand artists, from concept inception to event management. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from UNSW Art and Design.
Katherine is the founder and manager of Nationwide Curating Nationwide Curating services include:
· Gallery NWC - 188 Katoomba Street, Katoomba NSW 2780
· An online platform featuring contemporary artists
· Exhibitions at Gallery NWC, WOTSO workspaces and major art events
· Supply of artwork display systems including installation services
· Rotating Exhibition Services and Social Commercial Activations
Katherine is also the Director of Gallery NWC, a commercial art gallery located in the Blue Mountains, walking distance from the iconic Three Sisters and Katoomba Train Station. Gallery NWC is located at 188 Katoomba Street, Katoomba NSW 2780 and this gallery developed from Nationwide Curating.
The goal of Gallery NWC is to expose the work of talented artists from all over Australia, by promoting them outside of their hometowns whilst also supporting and nurturing local talent. She established commercial partnerships through Nationwide Curating in early 2022 to support artists with exhibition opportunities in buildings throughout Sydney. This arrangement is in partnership with WOTSO Workspaces.
The gallery portion of Nationwide Curating, Gallery NWC, was first established in St Leonards, Sydney in 2023 and moved to Katoomba early 2024. In 2023 Nationwide Curating partnered with the Affordable Art Fair to extend business operations interstate—in turn strengthening our mission to broaden the exposure of our artist’s talentsbeyond their hometowns.
Katherine also runs Must-Hang Sally which was established in 2022 as an artwork transportation service allowing for a full-service business model.
John Swainston
John Swainston is a former President of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) and the Photo Imaging Council of Australia (PICA). A former MD of Nikon in Australia for 23 years until 2005, and an international executive for Lowepro for a decade.
John presented the Nikon Australian Press Photographer of The Year Awards for 19 years, prior to merging it with the Walkley Media Awards in 1999. He has been a radio broadcaster on music and photography at intervals over 40 years.
He has judged photography and has exhibited in Sydney, Melbourne and the Southern Highlands. His work is in a number of private collections. He is a past Advisory Board member of the HeadOn Photo Festival and a former deputy-chair of the Australian Centre for Photography, based in Sydney, now part of Powerhouse Photography.
John is the author of Sydney Locked Down, a photo documentary book on the pandemic lockdown, published in 2022. Later this year he will have a new book out: I Will Lift Mine Eyes - Cathedrals, Abbeys and Minsters in Britain and France, the result of a decade's study, travel and photography.