Emerging practice in conversation at ANAT SPECTRA Reciprocity

Bringing together ten emerging interdisciplinary artists and Provocateur Kieran Swann, Critical Light invited participants to explore the theme of Reciprocity through dialogue, reflection and exchange during ANAT SPECTRA 2025.

Critical Light was presented by the Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance (SCCA) as part of The Refinery in partnership with ANAT SPECTRA 2025. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia and the Sunshine Coast Council.

Critical Light encouraged artists working experimentally, and who are sci-curious, to expand their thinking across disciplines. Across three days, participants engaged in critical discussion, attended talks, viewed works, and connected with contributing artists and attendees of ANAT’s national art + science gathering.

The Critical Light participants were Fiona Harding (QLD), Georgia Hayward (QLD), Hannah Foley (TAS), Kimberley Marston (QLD), Kirralee Robinson (QLD), Laurent Labourmène (VIC), Marian Sandberg (SA), Prita Tina Yeganeh (QLD), Sandy Ma (ACT) and Yasemin Sabuncu (SA).

“Critical Light lived up to its name. Each participant experienced illumination, within themselves, their practices, and through the works encountered.

Kieran’s ability to reference a broad archive of projects added context and depth to the group’s shared experience. Across the three days of the program, Critical Light strengthened each artist’s resilience, fostering connection, understanding, and validation as part of a greater creative movement.”
— The Refinery, SCCA

Critical Light provided a space for emerging practitioners to test ideas, form networks, and engage in critical conversations shaping the future of interdisciplinary practice in Australia. With the support of Creative Australia, four of the ten participating artists received a $1,500 travel bursary to support attendance from outside Queensland, ensuring diverse perspectives within the cohort.

‘From a national call out and pulling together ten participants from across the country, the Critical LIght program for emerging artists (in the field of art, science and technology) came together to experience ANAT SPECTRA under the guidance of mentor Keiran Swann.

The group experienced the three day program as a collective and immersed themselves within the experiences, conversations and connections that are already making reverberations into the future. I am eager to see what comes’.
— Melissa DeLaney, ANAT CEO

Kieran Swann is a curator and producer, with twenty years working across and between artforms; gallery-based exhibitions, public art, performance, social practice, co-creation.  He is dedicated to art that creates spaces for relief and resilience; provokes change and exchange; and demonstrates care, generosity, and beauty. He is currently CEO of Metro Arts, Brisbane’s home for artist development in contemporary and experimental practice.

The Refinery is SCCA’s professional development platform supporting creative practitioners and businesses working at the intersection of art, technology, environment and design. Through inter-connected program offerings, SCCA’s objective is to secure and nurture a pipeline of technologically and ecologically engaged creative thinkers positioned to develop their practices for new markets and audiences.

The Refinery is supported by Major Partners: the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, the Creative Ecologies Research Cluster at UniSC, and Sunshine Coast Council through the Regional Arts Development Fund.

Established in 2008, the Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance (SCCA) is a membership organisation based on the Sunshine Coast, working to elevate the creative sector to be sustainable and relevant through professional development, leadership and advocacy.

Return to homepage.

Presented by ANAT and UniSC, on Kabi Kabi Country, in the heart of the Sunshine Coast Biosphere Reserve, ANAT SPECTRA 2025 :: Reciprocity brings together Australian artists working at the intersections of art, science, and technology to explore the ethics and possibilities of reciprocal exchange.