The Emerging Writers’ Festival and Next Wave were thrilled to team up for this Masterclass on digital writing and censorship.
In this half-day masterclass presented in partnership with Emerging Writers Festival, artists and writers explored the creative possibilities of writing in networked culture and navigating digital censorship.
Featuring James Nguyen, Rory Gillen, Ximena Jiménez, Tom Sulston, and Access Lab & Library (Jon Tjhia and Fayen d’Evie).
Blindside partnered with Next Wave to deliver their 2025 Emerging Curator Mentorship program – selecting emerging curator Rasha Tayeh to be mentored by Next Wave CEO Elyse Goldfinch to realise the next iteration of her ongoing arts project: compost : compose.
Our inaugural Winter Windows program featured local artists Axel Garay and Liwen Lian, who presented digital works responding to the theme Possible Worlds: Imagined Futures.
The program evolved to incorporate winter night screening programs at Blak Dot, Counihan Gallery and Michelle Gugliemo Park – and will continue as Around the Block in 2026.
The Artistic Directorate was our decentralised leadership model that extends our curatorial reach beyond our home-base in Narrm/Melbourne. These mid-career or experienced artists were mentors to our 2024-25 Kickstart cohort.
A Rising Tide was a leadership and curatorial development program initiated in partnership by Next Wave and VicHealth, involving four early-career practitioners—Matisse Laida, MaggZ, Lydia Tesema, and Banda—collectively known as the Young Artistic Directorate.
The wrap up of our inaugural Artistic Directorate term signaled an important moment in Next Wave’s story. They have played a crucial role in Next Wave’s transition from a local festival to a national artistic movement.
TIDAL: To pitch a tent, to pull it back down, 2023