ACCA Podcast

*CONTENT WARNING: Please note that this podcast includes discussions of genocide. Support is always available: Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 ‘We need talk’, is a bold new series of free public conversations that bring together artists, thinkers, and cultural leaders to explore the art world from every angle. For our first event, acclaimed artist Tschabalala Self joined ACCA’s Artistic Director & CEO Myles Russell-Cook for a conversation on art, identity, and the future. A new ACCA initiative, ‘We need to talk’ is a space for spirited exchange, fresh ideas, and unexpected connections.

*CONTENT WARNING: Please note that this podcast includes discussions of suicide and genocide. Support is always available: Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 Listen to our latest talk with artists Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Megan Cope, Khaled Sabsabi and Ali Tahayori, from our current exhibition 'Five Acts of Love'. Take a deep dive into the discussions on their works, their practice and the ideas presented as part of the exhibition. This podcast was recorded as part of an Artist Talk at ACCA on Saturday 28 June 2025. Image: Opening night, 'Five Acts of Love' 2025, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne 2025. Photograph: Carmen Zammit

Moderated by exhibition curator Elyse Goldfinch, join us as we hear from designer Lloyd Mist, and contributing writers Azza Zein, Fayen d’Evie, Tara Heffernan and Tessa Laird. The talk includes a tour of the interactive digital publication site, and readings from the writers, followed by conversations around Stefanou’s work and ideas that have been explored through the different texts.

Listen to our talk with artist Tina Stefanou, curator Elyse Goldfinch (and special guests) on her new exhibition 'You Can't See Speed'. This podcast was recorded as part of an Artist Talk at ACCA on Saturday 05 April 2025. 'Tina Stefanou: You Can’t See Speed' attends to the interconnected and multisensory experience of film beyond vision. The exhibition continues Stefanou’s interest in the voice as medium, from spoken sonic soundscapes to vocal techniques such as humming. It also expands on her methodology of deep, long-term, co-creative collaboration and socially engaged practice involving interspecies-communal-performance making. Her diasporic, working-class ethic and approach to making challenges institutions of power and capitalistic logics, embedding the commons – from the planetary to the everyday – within her life and work. Image: Tina Stefanou and Matthew Cassar, artist talk, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne 2025. Photograph: Sarah Walker

Title wall by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Grief Ramp by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Trickle down by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Agritemple by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Centipede by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Toilets by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

You Can't See Speed by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Days in Doreen by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

From the hooves by ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

Listen to Yhonnie Scarce and Lisa Radford in conversation with Vikki McInnes, discussing their artistic practice and publication 'The image is not nothing (Concrete Archives)'.. 'Concrete Archives' is the culmination of Radford and Scarce’s fieldwork to local and international sites of nuclear colonisation, genocide and memorialisation. Published by Person Books, 2024 The podcast was recorded at the book launch of 'The image is not nothing (Concrete Archives)' at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art on Thursday 17 October.

Listen to our panel discussion focusing on the lineages of queer histories on the present. Featuring the research and practices of three speakers, Angela Hesson, Patrice Sharkey and Elyssia Wilson-Heti, who variously engage with queer subcultures, aesthetics and histories, the panel will consider how these legacies have shaped or reshaped the diverse range of LGBTQI+ representation today. This podcast was recorded at ACCA on Wednesday 21 August 2024. Read more about the program here: https://acca.melbourne/program/panel-discussion-living-queer-histories/ Image: Nicholas Smith, 'chris' 2024, installation view, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne. Courtesy the artist and Haydens Gallery, Melbourne. Photograph: Andrew Curtis

Listen to our talk with artists Andy Butler and Nicholas Smith on their new works presented as part of 'Future Remains: The 2024 Macfarlane Commissions'. This podcast was recorded as part of an Artist Talk at ACCA on Saturday 13 July 2024.

Listen to our talk with artists Kim Ah Sam, Teelah George, Joel Sherwood Spring and Salote Tawale on their new works presented as part of 'Future Remains: The 2024 Macfarlane Commissions'. This podcast was recorded as part of an Artist Talk at ACCA on Saturday 29 June 2024. Please note the quality of this podcast is interrupted towards the end of this recording. We apologise for any inconvenience. Read more: https://acca.melbourne/program/artist-talks-kim-ah-sam-joel-sherwood-spring-and-salote-tawale/

Listen to ACCA's in conversation with Laure Prouvost and Annikka Kristensen, following a screening of 'They Parlaient Idéale' 2019. This program was recorded on Monday 18 March at ACMI as part of ACCA's exhibition 'Laure Prouvost: Oui Move In You'. Read more about the program here: https://acca.melbourne/program/screening-and-keynote-with-laure-prouvost-in-conversation-with-annika-kristensen/

Listen to ACCA's in conversation with Barbara Creed, author and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne alongside Lisa French, Professor and Dean in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. This program was recorded on Wednesday 28 February as part of the official book launch of Barbara Creed's new book 'Return of the Monstrous-Feminine: Feminist New Wave Cinema'. Read more about the program here: https://acca.melbourne/program/book-launch-barbara-creed-return-of-the-monstrous-feminine-feminist-new-wave-cinema-2022/

Listen to ACCA's lecture 'Building a post-revolutionary world through the 8th Yokohama Triennale' with Carol Yinghua Lu, art historian, curator, and current Director, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum. Alongside Liu Ding, Carol Yinghua Lu is also co-Artistic Director of the 8th Yokohama Triennale 2024. Read more about the program here: https://acca.melbourne/program/building-a-post-revolutionary-world-through-the-8th-yokohama-triennale/ This recording was made at ACCA on Monday 26 February 2024.