Wayanha: First Nations Advanced Leadership Program

The inaugural Wayanha: First Nations Advanced Leadership Program builds on the National Gallery’s commitment to supporting and extending First Nations arts leaders’ professional development.

Complementing the Dhiraamalang: Wesfarmers First Nations Arts Leadership Program, Wayanha is designed for alumni with ten or more years of leadership experience who want to create transformative change in their Community and industries and advance their existing leadership skills.

Wayanha is open to alumni of the Dhiraamalang: Wesfarmers First Nations Arts Leadership Program and will be offered via an invitation-only expression of interest process. The program will be delivered in five sections in 2025.

Wayanha is a Wiradjuri/Walgalu word meaning ‘transformation’. The National Gallery is grateful to Uncle Paul Girrawah House for gifting this word to the program.

Wayanha: First Nations Advanced Leadership Program has been made possible thanks to the support of Malcolm and Heather Crompton.

The Program is open to Alumni of the Dhiraamalang: Wesfarmers First Nations Arts Leadership Program (2010-present) and will be conducted via an invitation-only expression of interest process.

Participants will complete the Australian Institute of Company Directors course (AICD) over 7 days in Kamberri/Canberra. The Course will equip participants with high-level knowledge and skills in corporate leadership, governance and ethics.

Please note: extensive pre-reading is a compulsory element of this component of the program.

Wayanha participants will have an opportunity to travel overseas on a Wesfarmers Arts International Tour with other alumni, aligning with the major presentation of Emily Kam Kngwarray at Tate Modern, London. The international tour will take place over 15 days (excluding travel) at various locations throughout the UK and Europe.

One senior participant will have the opportunity to complete the Nguluway Dhuluyarra Fellowship to the Netherlands for one month working with the Wereldmuseum, in Leiden and at the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam and Rotterdam branches.

This International Fellowship is a unique opportunity for an early to mid-career arts professional to work on a project in an international gallery or museum, exploring the Indigenous visual arts sector from within an international context and broadening their career development on a global scale.

International Fellowships will be open to alumni who:

• Have a demonstrated commitment to working in the visual arts sector
• Are able to obtain a passport and visa
• Are confident to travel
• Are confident to self-direct and problem solve

Participants will gather at the National Gallery in Kamberri/Canberra for a 5-day workshop focusing on transforming their leadership practices, in the company of senior First Nations leaders from the arts sector. This program coincides with the opening of the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain exhibition.

Participants will be required to present on their Wayanha: First Nations Advanced Leadership Program experience as part of the Dhiraamalang Program.

The National Gallery gratefully acknowledges Wesfarmers Arts for their support of the Wesfarmers Arts International Tour.

For further information about the Wayanha: First Nations Advanced Leadership Program contact:

Tina Baum
Senior Curator, First Nations Art
National Gallery of Australia
P: +61 2 6240 6478
E: firstnationsleadership@nga.gov.au