https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site CuriousWorks Annual Reports Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:27:23 +0000 https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site en https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/PROJECTS Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:26:58 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/PROJECTS PROJECTS https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Home Sat, 18 Feb 2023 11:09:36 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Home <img width="2146" height="200" width_o="2146" height_o="200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb14b4874293757a83bd25571817024a7b2221c6e151e9f33ce155b4c5f1cef0/Horizontal_White.png" data-mid="231750868" border="0" data-scale="63" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb14b4874293757a83bd25571817024a7b2221c6e151e9f33ce155b4c5f1cef0/Horizontal_White.png" /> ANNUAL REPORTS2025,&nbsp;2024,&nbsp;2023,&nbsp;2022,&nbsp;2021,&nbsp;2020,&nbsp;2019,&nbsp;2018,&nbsp;2017,&nbsp;2016,&nbsp;2015,&nbsp;2014 https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/2025-Header-copy Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:27:23 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/2025-Header-copy <img width="2146" height="200" width_o="2146" height_o="200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2c0b9d30684e9efb0386df41acf17c5a7fae7bec48b0a0f8890ff9d7c04af571/Horizontal_White.png" data-mid="247367450" border="0" data-scale="67" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2c0b9d30684e9efb0386df41acf17c5a7fae7bec48b0a0f8890ff9d7c04af571/Horizontal_White.png" /> 2025 ANNUAL REPORT https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Acknowledgement-of-Country-4 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:19:44 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Acknowledgement-of-Country-4 Image credit: Tea Time for Soft Bodies by Wendy Qi Zhang as part of HOLDING SPACE: Rituals of Welcome, 2025. Photographer: Damon Amb. ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE, ABORIGINAL LAND We acknowledge the Cabrogal Clan of the Darug Nation, the traditional owners of the land our office is located on at Fairfield City HQ. Our work also takes us across Dharawal, Burramattagal, Wangal and Gadigal lands regularly. And, in 2025 our work took us to the lands of the Kaurna peoples. We pay our respects to all elders, past and present; and to all First Nations people. Sovereignty was never ceded. https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Who-We-Are-2 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:19:59 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Who-We-Are-2 WHO WE ARE CuriousWorks exists at the intersection of contemporary multi-arts practice and community arts and cultural development. Working with artists and communities in South West Sydney, we actively shape a future culture that is vibrant, democratic, generative, and relevant. We intentionally work in the hyper-local context and believe deeply in the importance of place-based creative programs as tools for community capacity-building and social change. CuriousWorks has strong foundations grounded in local communities. We have a core staff with deep connections to the localities we operate within and the communities we serve. A deeply connected team engenders trust in the communities we work within and fosters sustainable community partnerships. These relationships nurture the development of community programs with broad reach, meaningful engagement and impact. <img width="4876" height="2943" width_o="4876" height_o="2943" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5937484988ecf85eafa1a674f869e8effe419d88afc2638ad718596127b3549a/Artboard-4.png" data-mid="246861027" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5937484988ecf85eafa1a674f869e8effe419d88afc2638ad718596127b3549a/Artboard-4.png" /> https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/How-we-work-2 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:28:26 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/How-we-work-2 HOW WE WORK We nurture the ideas and the potential of art makers and future cultural leaders. We believe in ethical and self-determined storytelling, and the integrity of process; engaging deeply and meaningfully with artists, audiences, communities, and collaborators to produce and present new Australian work and cultural experiences that speak to our home grounds in South West Sydney, and resonate far beyond. <img width="2000" height="1972" width_o="2000" height_o="1972" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7538670edb959cd5aeb4933435ba25eb469b810076835fae1c85d2017c091d0/CW_WebsiteAssets_2.png" data-mid="246861186" border="0" data-scale="83" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a7538670edb959cd5aeb4933435ba25eb469b810076835fae1c85d2017c091d0/CW_WebsiteAssets_2.png" /> https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/What-we-do-1 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:20:13 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/What-we-do-1 WHAT WE DO We commission new local work, co-create cultural experiences with communities and artists, provide arts education programs, generate leadership and skills development opportunities, create employment pathways, partner in research and cultural development initiatives, and advocate alongside our peers for systemic change. CuriousWorks is a registered social enterprise and certified member of both Social Traders and SECNA (Social Enterprise Council of NSW and ACT). Through our social enterprise stream, we collaborate with clients and their communities to deliver professional multimedia and community engagement services at competitive rates, while creating skills development and paid work opportunities for young people and early-career artists in South West Sydney. With a decade-long legacy, we’ve been commissioned and engaged by councils, schools, community organisations and corporations to capture their stories and deliver a range of impactful, bespoke pieces of content and creative engagement activities that educate, document, and offer opportunities for community creativity, collaboration, social bonding and skills development. <img width="4222" height="4078" width_o="4222" height_o="4078" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5f5cbc06097680ba8548c780f3a5909fb5835935dfb119b1698e8d07f2cab88/Artboard-5.png" data-mid="246861036" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5f5cbc06097680ba8548c780f3a5909fb5835935dfb119b1698e8d07f2cab88/Artboard-5.png" /> https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Chair-Report-2025 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:20:30 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Chair-Report-2025 CHAIR REPORT WELCOME TO OUR 2025 ANNUAL REPORT It is my pleasure to introduce the 2025 CuriousWorks Annual Report. The achievements of CuriousWorks in 2025 once again demonstrate the depth of creativity, dedication, and collaboration that define this organisation. From artistic productions and creative developments to workshops and commissioned collaborations, CuriousWorks continues to create meaningful opportunities for artists and communities in Fairfield and broader South West Sydney. In 2025, the CuriousWorks team proudly delivered a total of 470 activities. This year also marked an important period of growth and evolution for our Management Committee. We were delighted to welcome three new members: Michelle Huynh, Olivia Xegas, and Janice Rodrigues. Each brings valuable experience and insight as practising young artists and as individuals deeply connected to the arts and cultural life of Western Sydney. Their perspectives strengthen the diversity of voices around the table and enrich the Committee’s understanding of the communities and creative ecosystems we serve. During the year, we refined the format of our Management Committee meetings. We introduced presentations by staff and individual Committee members as part of each meeting. These sessions have created valuable opportunities for shared learning and professional development, while also deepening the Committee’s engagement with the work of the organisation. Another highlight of the year was the first all-in CuriousWorks Strategy Day, which brought together both staff and Management Committee members to collectively reflect on the organisation’s future. It was an energising and thoughtful day that allowed us to map out priorities, explore new ideas, and strengthen alignment between governance and operational leadership. On a personal note, I particularly enjoyed attending some of this year’s special events. The Holding Space: Rituals of Welcome performances and exhibition at both the Sydney Opera House and the Community Refugee Welcome Centre at Callan Park were truly memorable. Experiencing these works firsthand alongside audiences, artists, and collaborators was a powerful reminder of the role CuriousWorks plays in creating space for cultural expression, storytelling, and community connection. I would like to thank our CEO, Kiri Zakinthinos, whose leadership continues to guide CuriousWorks with passion, clarity, and deep commitment to artists and communities. I also extend my gratitude to the members of the Management Committee for their dedication, insight, and generosity of time throughout the year. Finally, I would like to acknowledge our partners, donors, and supporters. Your belief in the mission of CuriousWorks enables artists to create ambitious and meaningful work, and ensures that the cultural voices of South West Sydney continue to be heard and celebrated. Thank you for being part of this journey. Ameer Ali, Chair https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/CEO-Report-4 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:20:44 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/CEO-Report-4 CEO REPORT CuriousWorks, like all small to medium non-profit community arts organisations, delivers what we do off the good will, the hard work and the deeply purposeful commitment of a collective of humans (our staff and Management Committee). These humans are supported and complemented by the good will, hard work and deeply purposeful commitment of another collective of humans (our partners and collaborators). Together we turn public money (Government grants), earned revenue (fee for service income), and donations and in-kind contributions (thanks lovely friends/peers) into support for brilliant, creative humans and essential workers (artists), who then turn it into public good (things like: emotional resonance, new understanding, shared experiences, connection, belonging, social bonding, wellbeing etc. etc. etc.) for communities (more humans). All of these humans individually have big, beautiful, ordinary, and sometimes difficult lives outside of this work. All of these humans individually and collectively have varying proximities to local and global crises. All of these humans have worked together to produce the programs, artworks, outcomes, impacts, etc. detailed in this annual report. There is a lot to be proud of in our work this year (scroll through to read testimonials and see highlights reels that we love), but if there is one thing I am most proud of in 2025, it is that all of us, with all of our differences and our plural identities and lived experiences and proximities to so much conflict and division around us, worked together to create supported spaces where artists and communities could feel and experience good things. I hope that as you read through our 2025 annual report, you can, like me, see the deeply human in our work, and that which can’t be captured by stats, graphics, and output metrics. I am grateful to the staff for their grounded reflections on the year and am really proud to include them in this report below. I am grateful for their good work and feel privileged to witness and be a part of a lineage and culture at CuriousWorks, past and present, supporting growth and professional development in our little org, and in turn, supporting sector development and the sustainability of our arts ecology. I’m grateful to the Management Committee for their time and expertise - they volunteer many hours to review and advise on things like employment law, insurances, risk mitigation, financial health, business and philanthropic development. I’m also grateful for the committee’s support and belief in the importance of investing reserves this year into a new senior role. I’m grateful to our donors and supporters for their confidence in our work. And finally to our peers in the sector, for all the moments and sites of resistance and care we create together. Kiriaki Zakinthinos, CEO https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Team-Reflections Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:36:32 +0000 CuriousWorks Annual Reports https://curiousworksannualreports.cargo.site/Team-Reflections TEAM REFLECTIONS Jenny Trinh, Communications Officer 2025 was the Year of the Snake, ushering in transformation, renewal, and shedding past skins. This energy was heavily present in everyone's work at CuriousWorks from all hands on deck with the first iteration of HOLDING SPACE to watching the Future Culture cohort continually bloom. Working with this team means working in an evergreen supportive environment. I'm grateful for the care we show each other, and the communities we work with. A big project that I led last year was updating our website. Collaborating with our Graphics and Web Designer, Huy Nguyen, and the wider team, we 'shed' the old website, and gave it a complete makeover. I'm proud of our collective hard work – the website is much more streamlined, easier to navigate, and is a great archive of our 20 years (and counting) history! Furthermore, I'm proud of the overall comms work. From creating persona profiles to implementing SMART goals, the Digital Marketing &amp; Comms Action Plan challenged me to think more strategically about comms. With programs like HOLDING SPACE, I also found myself collaborating with more external teams and connecting with a range of artists, who trusted us with their precious stories. This sharing is something I don't take for granted. Vandana Ram, Senior Creative Producer I felt incredibly privileged joining the very special CuriousWorks family in 2025 as the Senior Creative Producer to curate the beautiful HOLDING SPACE project! After working for many years in arts management it was wonderfully grounding to come back to where my heart is – connecting creatively with local communities, in collaboration with professional artists. HOLDING SPACE is supported by Multicultural NSW through multi-year funding, which provides a very unique opportunity to build something tangible – to build relationships with artists and communities, make friendships, and create important and meaningful artwork that is grounded in this process. Alongside our major partner, Settlement Services International (SSI), and their dedicated staff including the wonderful Moones Mansoubi, it has been amazing to nurture and support the creative practice of many refugee community participants, many who have never had the opportunity to engage or access the arts – to share story, family history, creativity and culture. The creative outcomes were extraordinary and multi-disciplinary and showcased in collaboration with our project partners at the Sydney Opera House on November 28 as well as through an exhibition at the Community Refugee Welcome Centre on December 6 and 7. Artists and community members worked collectively to create a beautiful body of artworks exploring stories of lived experiences, ancestral memories and traditional ceremonial practices of welcome. Individual artists also explored their cultural heritages to re-imagine and create new cultural practices and diversity of expression. Miranda Aguilar, Creative Producer 2025 was an interesting learning year for me as a creative producer and community arts worker. 2025 was the year I got to run a program I had developed with the LGBTQIA+ community in mind from ideation and funding through to evaluation and acquittal with Everything is Writing: We’re Still Here. I’m incredibly proud of how this writing and creativity workshop created such a cozy, safe creative space for queer creatives and young people in Fairfield. I was particularly proud that I was able to use the program to bring in queer participants and guest facilitators. I feel particularly grateful for the learning I gained from working with other facilitators outside of CuriousWorks including collaborating with Milk Crate Theatre and Bedelia Lowrenčev on Fetch Quest and working with Esky Escandor and Claudia Roosen through the CACD Training program. I learned so much about facilitation just from working with them. One of my highlights from this year was finishing up with the 2024-2025 Future Culture pilot program in June. I felt a lot of imposter syndrome as a CACD practitioner when I started producing the program mid-2024. It was incredibly gratifying to see how the cohort felt they had grown in experience and confidence, and how we as an organisation and arts workers felt similarly changed. I definitely feel like 2025 truly challenged me and helped me grow! Samantha Barahona, Creative Producer My 2025 was a year full of joy, connection, and growth. At the start of the year, I witnessed the creative genius of Liverpool Boys High School and Liverpool Girls High School students as they created beautiful artworks for Tranquility, which were then thoughtfully exhibited at PYT Fairfield. I was also fortunate to collaborate with Daisy Montalvo from PYT and Addy Fong once again to support the delivery of two more seasons of the Curiously West Film Club. It was such a privilege to help our lovely filmmaking community experiment, develop friendships, and make cool films together! Additionally, I had the immense honor of photographing special moments during our HOLDING SPACE program while participating in the artmaking workshops myself. There is something incredibly special and grounding about being in a room together and working with our hands to create art. Being guided so thoughtfully by amazing facilitators creates a connection that transcends different walks of life and languages, bringing everyone in the room together. Thanks to all the amazing humans I’ve crossed paths with this year for making 2025 such a joyful journey. Andrea Nealy, Finance and Administration Officer My 2025 was a year of learning and transformation. I’m grateful that I get to work with an incredible team that makes coming to work a joy. My short year was filled with many highlights before going on maternity leave. I was glad to be part of the Tranquility project and to see the beautiful completed artworks created by the students from Liverpool Boys High and Liverpool Girls High Schools exhibited at PYT Fairfield. I enjoyed being able to be involved in this project not just with the administration but also attending some of the workshops and seeing the creative process in action. One of the Commissioned Collaborations I was able to be more involved in was the Settlement Services International Safe Path project. It was great to work closely with everyone on this production and was lovely to be on set again, as I hadn’t been on one in a while. It was great to work with the Future Culture cohort too. I enjoyed the sharing of knowledge through our various activities. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to train one of our interns, the wonderful Kirsten, to fill in for me while on maternity leave. Kirsten Maglalang, Administration Assistant (maternity leave cover) and Future Culture Intern The year of 2025 was a transformative year with my main highlight being time spent as a Future Culture Arts Worker Intern. The sessions I participated in were extremely insightful and taught me ways to work in a more collaborative environment. This built my confidence and growing passion for working with community. Future Culture continues to shape my life in every way possible and I aim to carry these learnings wherever I go. For me, a key takeaway is to always work with intention so that I can extend my care in spaces where different communities can come together, show up as themselves and create from the heart. The second half of 2025 was also filled with many highlights, one being where I got the chance to participate in art making workshops and also assist in their development. The HOLDING SPACE, Rituals of Welcome Exhibition launch at the Community Refugee Welcome Centre was notably one of the experiences that gave me the courage to lead with more passion in my own arts practice.