Eugenia Lim has been awarded Australia’s most valuable prize in any artform, a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, which recognises outstanding talent and exceptional courage in an Australian artist or cultural leader. In 2022, nine Fellowships have been awarded to creatives from across the country: Alethea Beetson is an artist, leader and founder of Indigenous youth arts organisation Digi Youth Arts, Ghenoa Gela is a proud Torres Strait Islander woman working across dance, theatre, comedy and screen as a performer, maker and mentor, Nam Le has written and published short stories, poems and essays as well as being an editor, teacher and mentor, Fred Leone is a cultural leader and one of the Butchulla Songmen with Aboriginal, Tongan and South-Sea Islander heritage, Eugenia Lim works with the body, performance, film, social and spatial practice to explore our interdependent world, Vincent Namatjira is a painter who offers a wry look at the politics of history, power and leadership, Rachel Arianne Ogle is a dance artist with an extensive career as a performer, choreographer, educator and mentor, Carly Sheppard is a performance artist whose work often explores class and the experience of being part of the Indigenous diaspora of Australia, and Mindy Meng Wang is a composer and classically trained Guzheng artist, who has pioneered new approaches to this ancient instrument.
Each Fellow is awarded a significant tax-free bursary over a two-year period. The Fellowships are not tied to any specific outcomes or projects. They provide the recipients with the time, space and resources to develop their practice in peace and to take risks without fear.
Eugenia writes: “I am so humbled to be a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship recipient. I’m still pinching myself! As my work shifts into a more ecological and international register, the significant support of this Fellowship will enable me to continue to take artistic risks, to be adventurous, to collaborate, to sustain my long-term inquiry into how to make visible stories and perspectives that are often hidden or overlooked. Thank you for this recognition. I am honoured to join an incredible community of artistic fellows who I deeply respect and admire.”
Image: still from APHIDS’ moving image work ‘DESTINY’ (2022), directed by Eugenia Lim.