Jeffrey Smart Commission artists announced

The Samstag Museum of Art has revealed the recipients of the UniSA Jeffrey Smart Commission, a triennial initiative supporting ambitious contemporary art projects. Awarded to UniSA alumni, Samstag scholars, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners, the commission honours the legacy of acclaimed artist Jeffrey Smart.

NSW-based duo and 2006 Samstag scholars Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy will debut their cross-cultural moving image installation Psychopomp and selected works in the 2025 Wirltuti season, which launches on 1 March 2025 and means “spring” in the Kaurna language. This exciting piece examines the interplay between science and mysticism, finding a strong spiritual thread in the history of rocket and space exploration. Melding the significant historical text, the poem Hymn to Pan, with footage of a farming fertility festival in Thailand and Laos, Psychopomp explores the expressive potential of motion, technology and pagan rituals.

It will link the Samstag Museum as a commissioning venue with the MATDOT Art Centre in Bangkok, the original location of the timely and complex exhibition.

Contemporary artist Robert Fielding will present Melting Point in 2026. Based in the Mimili Community on APY Lands, Fielding’s works explore cultural resilience and identity through works on paper, photography, film, sculpture, installation and community-driven art. His project will expand his collaborative practice, reflecting millennia of knowledge tied to Country.

Erica Green, Samstag Museum’s director, spoke about the benefits of the opportunity for artists: “The substantial investment of the UniSA Jeffrey Smart Commission allows artists to invest time and resources in undertaking demanding projects.”

The full 2025 Samstag program will be unveiled early next year.