Oriana Julie Winston is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher of African American and Italian heritage based on Kaurna Yarta, South Australia. Her practice is guided by Swamp Praxis, a relational methodology developed through her First Class Honours research that explores wetlands as living archives of ancestry, memory and transformation. Working across oil painting, collage, ceramics, performance and food-based practice, she investigates Black diasporic ecologies inter being and speculative futurities through Afro-Surreal, ecological and mythic frameworks.
Recent achievements include First Class Honours and the Adelaide Central School of Art Honours Scholarship, selection as an Alice Prize finalist, participation in the ACE/FUMA Experimental Art Anarchive program, and ACE/ Firstdraft residency/ exhibition. Her work has been published in Journal of Australian Ceramics and exhibited nationally through artist residencies, commissions and exhibitions.
Satomi is a drummer and percussionist who studied Jazz drumming in Japan. She has performed at various festivals, including WOMADelaide, the OzAsia Festival, the Woodford Folk Festival (QLD) Dark Mofo (TAS), and Nannup Music Festival (WA).
She is an active member of several musical groups: San Ureshi, Farhan Shah & SufiOZ, Anya Anastasia, and Hyoshi in Counterpoint. She has been nationally touring with San Ureshi to present “Life is an Echo” for Musica Viva in schools.
Since Satomi earned a Master Certificate in Arranging and Orchestration from Berklee Online, she started composing and arranging for the bands she works. She also works for schools as an instructor and ensemble director.
Shenshen Zheng is an emerging visual artist living and working on Kaurna Country (Adelaide). She graduated from Adelaide Central School of Art with a Bachelor of Visual Art in 2024. Her interdisciplinary practice celebrates cultural diversity and investigates the complex relationships between humans and the more-than-human world through drawing, painting, ceramics, installation, and social engaged practice.
Zheng has been selected for a number of group exhibitions, including Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, South Australian Museum, the Heysen Sculpture Biennial, Immersive Light and Art, and Central Gallery. She was the recipient of the 2024 SALA Festival residency at Nexus Arts, which resulted in her first solo exhibition, Root and Fruit – Sharing Home Garden Nostalgia.
Zheng was also the inaugural recipient of the 2025 BLOOMS Residency at Hyphenated Projects, culminating in her solo exhibition Where Clay Meets Water at Post Office Projects.
Raquel is a proud Kokatha, Dieri Arabana and Narungga woman artist and Mum.
Her artwork is inspired her children, her old people and her country. Painting for her is a form of healing and connection. Her journey in this space has allowed her to grow as an artist.
She loves being part of the creative arts world and hopes she can inspire others to follow their dreams.
Maryam Rahmani is an Iranian-born santur player based in Adelaide. Her music draws deeply from Persian classical traditions and poetry, enriched by her studies of traditional instruments and rhythmic structures.
Since relocating to Australia, she has developed a collaborative practice across genres, exploring new contexts for her instrument and deepening her engagement with cultural exchange and musical heritage.
Samuel Lau is a Hong Kong-Australian actor, musician and theatre maker based on Kaurna Land. A graduate of the Adelaide College of Arts, Sam’s stage credits include The Questions (State Theatre Company South Australia), The Story of Chi (Terrapin Puppet Theatre x Contemporary Asian-Australian Performance) and the international production of Por Por’s Big Fat Surprise Wedding (Singapore Repertory Theatre).
Sam is also an accomplished musician. A multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer, he often combines his musicianship with the theatre, playing music and acting in numerous cabarets such as Leslie & Anita by Nicky TszTung Li and in musicals such as The Questions directed by Mitchell Butel.
Alyssa Powell-Ascura is an award-winning, multi-hyphenated “slashie”, primarily known as a socially engaged visual artist, writer and curator. Her practice is deeply embedded in bayanihan, which refers to acting within a framework that prioritises community, focusing on a collaborative approach.
Reimagining hierarchical models of curating, Powell-Ascura emphasises the importance of building accessible pathways for the artists, the audiences and the decision makers to safely engage and cultivate culture.
Working in the intersections of food, culture and community, her work intricately holds space for an open dialogue, intertwining personal history with broader societal narratives.
She was the inaugural artist recipient for pilot programs such as the Delima Residency (2023, Malaysia) and Watch This Space x FELTspace Artist Exchange Program (2024, Mparntwe/ Alice Springs).
Her first solo exhibition, Halo-halo (2024) received The City of Adelaide SALA Award (2024). Recent achievements include being appointed The City of Adelaide Emerging Curator (2025) and receiving the Guildhouse Catapult Mentorship (2026).
If she’s not talking to the local aunties, she can be found by the beach or singing karaoke late at night.
Lester grew up in Singapore and moved to South Australia in 2012. He graduated with First Class Honours in Violin Performance from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, studying with Keith Crellin and Wendy Heiligenberg, and is the recipient of the Elder Conservatorium Director’s Award, the Arved and Suzanne Kurtz Scholarship, the Florence Cooke Violin Prize, and the Prize for Excellence in Postgraduate Research.
As a huqin player, he was a First Prize winner at the Singapore National Chinese Music Competition and studied with renowned huqin player Zhang Yuming. He is also a founding member of Silk Strings Ensemble, an Adelaide-based huqin trio.
He has led orchestras on multiple national tours with Co-Opera and the State Opera of South Australia, and has performed in and attended major festivals and music programs across Australia.
He is currently Director of Music Performance at Pembroke School, and also serves as a board observer with Chamber Music Adelaide, a board member of the Adelaide Hills Chamber Players, and committee member with South Australia State Music Camp.
Lester is also pursuing a PhD at the University of Adelaide, investigating the performance intersection between the violin and huqin.
