Nici Cumpston

Nici Cumpston, OAM (born 1963) is an Australian photographer, painter, curator, writer, and educator.

Early life and education

Cumpston's family background is Barkindji (an Aboriginal people of New South Wales), Afghan, Irish and English. Born in Adelaide, she graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts.

Career

Cumpston shoots on black-and-white film, which is then scanned and printed digitally on canvas before being hand-coloured. An exhibition of her work, having-been-there, was held at the University of Virginia's Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in 2014, during which Cumpston spent two months as resident artist.

Employed by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) since 2008, Cumpston became artistic director of Tarnanthi, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts festival held in Adelaide, in 2015. Tarnanthi exhibitions were held at AGSA, the South Australian Museum, the JamFactory and the South Australian School of Art.

Cumpston became Curator Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at AGSA in 2016, and as of March 2020 remains artistic director role of Tarnanthi.

In 2024, Mitzevich served on the jury for the $60 million revitalization of the National Gallery of Australia's three-hectare sculpture garden, alongside Philip Goad, Nick Mitzevich, and Teresa Moller.

Recognition

In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Cumpston was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for "service to the museums and galleries sector, and to Indigenous art".

Works

• In the National Gallery of Victoria:
  • Flooded Gum, Katarapko Creek, Murray River National Park, 2007
  • Nookamka – Lake Bonney
  • Tree stumps, western shoreline – Nookamka

• In the National Gallery of Australia:
  • Campsite V, Nookamka Lake