The University of Queensland has appointed Freja Carmichael as Curator of UQ Art Museum. Freja is a Ngugi woman belonging to the people of Quandamooka. With her years of curatorial experience both locally and internationally, Freja brings with her significant industry knowledge and community connections.
Over the past decade, Freja has worked alongside First Peoples stories, artists and communities on exhibitions, programming, collection research and documentation in curatorial roles with art centres, regional galleries, cultural gatherings, contemporary art spaces and national and international art institutions. Freja’s work has been dedicated to celebrating First Peoples weaving practices and knowledges and creating sites for exchange and collaboration through curatorial approaches.
We asked Freja to share why she decided to join UQ Art Museum:
“Since first working with UQAM in 2019 on the exhibition Weaving the Way, I have admired the collaborative and intersectional approaches in the exhibitions developed here. I am looking forward to a curatorial home at UQ art museum which is placed within a wider UQ community of inspiring cultural voices, artists, writers and researchers, as well as connected locally, nationally and across the oceans. I see UQ Art Museum as an important space for centering First Peoples knowledges and perspectives through the exhibitions and conversations being supported and generated.”
Since 2023, Freja has been Adjunct Research Curator at the UQ Art Museum and is a PhD candidate in Art History with UQ. Most recently she was co-curator of the National 4: Australian Art Now, Carriageworks (2023). Other curatorial projects include national touring exhibition long water: fibre stories (2020-22), Institute of Modern Art, Weaving the Way (2019), UQ Art Museum and co-curator of The Commute, 2018, Institute of Modern Art, among numerous other exhibitions. Freja regularly contributes writing for exhibition catalogues, and publications including Artlink and Art Monthly Australasia. Freja was an inaugural participant of the Wesfarmers Indigenous Arts Leadership program with the National Gallery of Australia (2010). She is a member of the Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection Advisory Council of the University of Virginia, United States and is on the board of Northsite, Contemporary Arts Gallery, Cairns.
In her free time, Freja loves heading home to Country and being with family on Minjerribah, which stays central in her practice.
Freja explains; “As a curator belonging to Quandamooka, my approach has always been grounded in Country, respect for cultural ways and the importance of relationships. I will bring this understanding to this role working with artists, communities, the collection and in developing exhibitions, writing, programming, and outreach. I would like to continue thinking of exhibitions as spaces for connecting, sharing and collaboration through the expansive nature of curatorial work. This relates closely to my current PhD at UQ in the School of Communication and Arts.”
Peta Rake, Director of UQ Art Museum, said of Freja’s appointment;
“It is a milestone for UQ Art Museum and for the University to attract and appoint a Curator with Freja’s significant experience and close ties with the community, both locally and internationally. We’ve been privileged to work with Freja as an adjunct at UQ and were delighted to appoint her through a competitive public recruitment process. Freja’s critical lens, her proven leadership, best practice, and genuine collegial approach to being a member of the team and mentor for the younger generation, set her apart as a future leader of this industry. I am excited for Freja’s programming and curatorial vision.”
When asked what she’s looking forward to at UQ Art Museum, Freja explains;
“In this next chapter, I hope to create multiple and expansive platforms for centering First Peoples knowledges, cultural continuity and creative practices.”
UQ Art Museum is proud to welcome Freja to the team, and is excited to share her knowledge, experience and curatorial vision into the future.
