Then, Now, Next: 10 Years of Sydney Contemporary
Over the past decade, Sydney Contemporary has grown into one of the region’s most significant art events, connecting artists, galleries, collectors and audiences from across Australia and beyond.
But art fairs are about more than buying and selling. They create moments of encounter, experimentation and dialogue, shaping cultural conversations and supporting artistic communities. Marking ten years of the fair, this panel reflects on how the art world has changed during that time – not just in Sydney, but Australia and beyond – and examines the critical contribution that commercially-led events make to our industry. Ultimately, this talk considers what the next decade might hold for the Australasian art market, and what will change (and remain the same) at Sydney Contemporary in years to come.
Kym Elphinstone | Host
Dominic Feuchs | Speaker
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran | Speaker
Suzanne Cotter | Speaker
Tim Etchells| Speaker
Each talk runs for approximately 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. A valid ticket to Sydney Contemporary 2026 is required for entry to this talk. Buy tickets online here.
About the Speakers
Dominic Feuchs is a leading New Zealand based contemporary art gallerist and director, best known as the 2002 co-founder of Auckland’s flagship gallery, Starkwhite. In 2022 he opened Melbourne’s1301SW gallery with Los Angeles gallerist Brian Butler, before adding 1301SW Sydney in 2024. Today, Feuchs focuses on cultivating relationships across the galleries and championing prominent Australasian and international artists on the global stage.
Kym Elphinstone is an arts advocate and advisor with more than two decades experience championing the work of contemporary artists. Kym is the founder of Australia’s leading cultural communications agency Articulate Advisory, through which she has advised on and launched hundreds of arts initiatives for public and private museums, galleries, biennales, art fairs and foundations. An avid art collector, Kym was a founding board member of Art Month Sydney, founding member of the MCA Young Ambassadors, sits on the board of Ngununggula and is the Chair of Firstdraft.
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist of Sri Lankan, Tamil heritage. His practice traverses global histories and languages of figuration with a particular focus on South Asian traditions. He sees the imaginative exploration of ancient pasts as a way to speculate on parallel futures and to expand ways of perceiving the present. While he works across ceramics, bronze casting, painting, drawing, and immersive installation, he is best known for his hybrid ceramic sculptures that fuse references to ancient forms with various tropes and imagery from popular culture, zoology and other discourses.
Suzanne Cotter is a leading curator and scholar of contemporary art. She is currently Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Previously Director of the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg and Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Portugal, she has held curatorial positions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, Hayward Gallery, London, Serpentine Gallery, London and Modern Art Oxford. A board member of CIMAM between 2017 and 2025, she is also a board member of Mophradat, supporting artists from the Arab world. She has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government and equivalent honours from Luxembourg and Italy.
Tim Etchells has spent the last 30 years creating and managing Events and Fairs all over the world. From The Good Food Shows to London Fashion Week to Art HK, Tim has worked in numerous different industry sectors across different countries. In 2008 Tim developed the idea to stage Art HK which became the largest art fair in Asia, and is now under the ownership of MCH and renamed Art Basel Hong Kong. In 2013 Tim launched Sydney Contemporary initially on a biannual basis. Having established itself as the largest international art fair in Australasia, Sydney Contemporary moved to an annual cycle in 2017. Tim’s art fair portfolio includes ART SG (Singapore), Taipei Dangdai (Taiwan) and Art Central (Hong Kong). In 2016 Tim received two separate Lifetime Achievement Awards from the UK Exhibition industry.
About Sydney Contemporary
Sydney Contemporary, presented by MA Financial Group, returns to Carriageworks from 3-6 September, bringing together 100 galleries from nine countries for the 10th edition of Australasia’s premier art fair. For four unforgettable days of discovery, conversation and spectacle, Carriageworks becomes the centre of the art world in our region. Alive with buzzing crowds, ambitious installations, performances, talks and inspiring encounters with artists and galleries, it’s Sydney’s most exciting cultural event this spring and an event not to miss.
