Adjunct Professor Wayne Quilliam is one of Australia's pre-eminent Indigenous photographic artists, curators and cultural advisers. His award winning career includes the coveted National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee's Indigenous Artist of the Year, Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council's Business of the Year, Human Rights Media Award and the prestigious Walkley Award for photojournalism. He has been nominated as a Master of Photography by National Geographic, was a recent finalist in the invitation-only PrixPictet in Paris, and was highly commended in the Bowness Art Award.
Wayne has created and curated over 150 exhibitions throughout the world and been published in more than 1,000 magazines, books and newspapers. When he is not at home with his wife and daughter, he can be found in communities throughout the country sharing his knowledge and teaching youth the expression of culture through multimedia. He is currently writing three children's books, producing a coffee table book and developing a stage show bringing together Indigenous food, art and music.
His work documents significant Indigenous events over the past 20 years, including the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, the 1967 Referendum anniversary, Garma, Laura, Burunga, Dreaming and Yeperenye festivals and thousands of community events throughout the country. Wayne also works with Indigenous groups in Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Guam developing intercultural art and cultural exchanges.
His diverse art practices include the Lowanna series that infuses textures of earth onto the human form, Towindri landscape art and Smoke exhibition exploring the cultural significance of smoking ceremonies. His photographic exhibition of the Apology—Sorry more than a Word—is estimated to have been experienced by more than a quarter of a million people and continues to attract large audiences as it travels the world.