Firstdraft

Firstdraft Where the future of contemporary art emerges. Firstdraft is located in the heart of Sydney and is Australia’s
longest running Artist-Run-Initiative.

Firstdraft has been
facilitating the development and exhibition of experimental artistic practice since 1986.

Join us on Saturday, the 13th of June, from 2—4 pm, for a workshop on audio-visual install basics from Dylan Batty of .T...
02/06/2026

Join us on Saturday, the 13th of June, from 2—4 pm, for a workshop on audio-visual install basics from Dylan Batty of .

This workshop will introduce the basic technical and conceptual aspects of Audio Visual Installation within galleries, giving them the confidence to install simple AV based shows.
Students will learn how to safely handle and install TVs, projectors and audio equipment, along with media player setup, simple wiring, projector setup, theory of placement and other considerations with AV installation in gallery spaces.
This workshop suits people with the experience using power tools, however this is not essential.

About the Facilitator: Dylan Batty
Dylan Batty (NSW) is a multi-disciplinary artist and arts worker who advocates for the rights and recognition of arts workers, particularly installers and behind-the-scenes staff whose labour is essential to the sector yet often overlooked. Their conceptual practice explores themes of human connection, storytelling, and the semiotics of labor, intimacy and technology.
As an installer, Dylan has worked across multiple institutions and sectors within the greater art world since 2014. Their long term goal is to professionalize and unify installers by defining the role of installers with in depth training and standardised rates of remuneration. Their company Batty Fine Art has been trading since 2017.

http://www.battyfineart.com


All welcome. Get tickets through the link in our bio. 🔗

We’ve added new dates to the calendar for co-working Wednesdays— come join us every Wednesday in June, from 5.30—8 pm, t...
01/06/2026

We’ve added new dates to the calendar for co-working Wednesdays— come join us every Wednesday in June, from 5.30—8 pm, to work on your projects and check out our current exhibitions.

This Wednesday is an extra-special coworking Wednesday, where we’ll be joined by George Squires and Anthea Duffy from Mega— who will be sharing their experience running an ARI and how you can start your own.

Tickets available at the link in our bio. 🔗

29/05/2026

Join us on Saturday, the 6th of June, from 2—4 pm, for a workshop on proposal writing from Zoe Theodore.

This 3-hour workshop at Firstdraft explores application writing as a creative and critical practice rather than a bureaucratic exercise. Designed for emerging artists applying for open calls, funding, residencies, and professional opportunities, the session focuses on analysing institutional language, responding to selection criteria in plain language, and building a personal lexicon of practice to draw from across applications.

ZOE THEODORE is a curator and arts writer working on Gadigal Country. She is currently Curator, Programs at Artspace, Sydney.��Zoe regularly works directly with artists to realise new commissions, exhibitions and public programs for museums, galleries and organisations including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the Immigration Museum, Melbourne, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, BUS Projects, and the Biennale of Sydney. She was the Project Coordinator and Associate Researcher on the ARC-supported Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum project from 2021-2024.

All welcome. Get tickets through the link in our bio. 🔗

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 to open Edward Barns’ new solo exhibition, 𝙂𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘.𝘎𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 is Edward Barns’...
27/05/2026

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 to open Edward Barns’ new solo exhibition, 𝙂𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘.

𝘎𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 is Edward Barns’ () second solo exhibition and first Sydney presentation, capturing the animals surrounding his home in Gumma on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Drawn from observing the surrounding environment with his mother, Donna, the paintings reflect the wildlife Ed greets daily, alongside an immersive soundscape created together that brings the landscape to life.
�Some of the artists will be in conversation the following 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟭, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮—𝟰 𝗽𝗺 for our artist talks.��All welcome! RSVP to both Friday & Saturday at the link in our bio. 🔗



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Edward Barns, 𝘗𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘭 (𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴), 2026, Image by Jack Hodges.

Artist portrait courtesy Jack Hodges.

Join us next Wednesday, the 3rd of June, from 5.30—7.30 pm, for a seminar on starting an ARI from the directors of MEGA—...
26/05/2026

Join us next Wednesday, the 3rd of June, from 5.30—7.30 pm, for a seminar on starting an ARI from the directors of MEGA— Anthea Duffy and George Squires.

George & Anthea will be sharing their experience of running MEGA, offering advice for those interested in setting up their own spaces, and asking the fundamental question— what exactly is an ARI?

All welcome! Get tickets through the link in our bio. 🔗

Established in 2024, Mega () is an independent artist-run initiative located in Redfern, Sydney, Australia, with an emphasis on experimental and spatial practice, directed by Anthea Duffy and George Squires.

This project is part of our Artist Development Program and has been enabled by the generous support of the City of Sydney.

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Margaret Roberts, Loop, Firstdraft, 1995. Image courtesy Sharyn Raggett.

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 to open Kristone Capistrano’s new solo exhibition (), 𝙋𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙙.𝙋𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙙 reima...
25/05/2026

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 to open Kristone Capistrano’s new solo exhibition (), 𝙋𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙙.

𝙋𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙙 reimagines the endless scroll as a wind-activated field of drawing, movement and landscape. Through accumulation of analogue mark-making, Kristone Capistrano considers how the handmade image might interrupt screen-based habits of looking, drawing viewers into a slower encounter with memory, presence and the sublime.�

Kristone Capistrano () is a Filipino-Australian artist working across traditional and experimental drawing, moving image and performance. His practice explores mortality, transience, and contemporary figuration, visualising paper as a metaphor for human skin, and mark-making as a form of human touch: a vehicle for generosity and care.

Some of the artists will be in conversation the following 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟭, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮—𝟰 𝗽𝗺 for our artist talks.��All welcome! RSVP to both Friday & Saturday at the link in our bio. 🔗

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Portrait of Kristone Capistrano; Kristone Capistrano working in the studio. Images courtesy JD Yu ().

Based in Adelaide or South Australia and interested in a Firstdraft exhibition?Now’s your chance!ACE, in partnership wit...
24/05/2026

Based in Adelaide or South Australia and interested in a Firstdraft exhibition?

Now’s your chance!

ACE, in partnership with Firstdraft, is offering a short-term studio residency culminating in an exhibition at Firstdraft in Sydney.

Applications are open through the 8th of June, 11.59 pm (ACST). Check the link in our bio for details and to apply. 🔗

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2024 ACE x Firstdraft Short-term residency recipient Emmaline Zanelli, 'Magic Cave', Firstdraft, 2024, and in Primavera, 2025, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Image courtesy Jessica Maurer.

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 for the opening of 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠-𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩, a group exhibition which dives into the rela...
23/05/2026

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 for the opening of 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠-𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩, a group exhibition which dives into the relationship between art and labour, featuring Sophia Cai (), Benita Laylim (), Amy Prcevich, and Daniel Sherington ().

The break-even point occurs when the total cost of a venture is equal to the total earnings. Arriving at break-even means there is neither a profit nor a loss: it's a point of equilibrium. Identifying this point provides a metric for cost-benefit analysis, it's a way to locate value, a way to answer the question, is it worth it?

Where does this point occur when we frame our practice as work or our work as practice? We make adjustments and concessions to include intangible, non-financial benefits as a form of earning instead of income. We’re doing it for the love of it, which we know is a highly liquid asset, or maybe there is some kind of spiritual currency that we can capitalise on by participating in art making and facilitation.

Artists often moonlight as arts workers, though when preparing tax returns, it is clear which of these is the primary occupation, and it is rarely the one that takes place in the studio.

So often, discourse about art as work, work in the arts, is antagonistic. It seems as though there are very few benefits, financial or otherwise, to working in the arts, or positioning art as work, so why do it? Where do we break-even when the contribution is human capital, and the earnings are so rarely financial?

Break-even point is a speculative exhibition exploring labour in art, looking at what happens at the intersection of the arts worker/artist experience, and wondering what makes it worth it?

This project is developed by Firstdraft.

�Some of the artists will be in conversation the following 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟭, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮—𝟰 𝗽𝗺 for our artist talks.��All welcome! RSVP to both Friday & Saturday at the link in our bio. 🔗

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Artist/installer Valentina Penkova taking a break on Archibald Judging weekend, 2024. Image courtesy Benita Laylim.

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 for the opening of 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙆𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙋𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙨. This exhibition explores sen...
22/05/2026

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟲–𝟴 𝗽𝗺 for the opening of 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙆𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙋𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙨.

This exhibition explores sentiments of loneliness, grief and misunderstanding as digital connection feels atomised through quantity rather than quality of contact. What happens when signals are crossed rather than interrupted? What does it mean to feel isolated in a mass culture distilled or distorted through personalisation, algorithms and a lack of shared language? How and where do we find connection when we are struggling to relate to each other? 

This exhibition examines how the culture we consume determines how we connect and considers the challenges faced when trying to build sincere relationships as channels of communication change, shift or regress.

With work from Si Yi Shen (), Rainer Ciar (), gigis_revenge_ (), Aimee Meng (), and Wolfgang Saker ().

This project is developed by Firstdraft.

Some of the artists will be in conversation the following 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟭, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮—𝟰 𝗽𝗺 for our artist talks.

All welcome! RSVP to both Friday & Saturday at the link in our bio. 🔗

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gigis_revenge_, 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 2026, JavaScript browser extension.

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