Nine Western Australian artists will embark on ambitious new projects with the support of the Minderoo Artist Fund, which provides grants and residencies to mid-career creatives.
Among the recipients are Indigenous artists Gary Hamaguchi and Mark Coles Smith.
Hamaguchi, a Jaru/Noongar/Japanese filmmaker, will develop Kodj, a sci-fi film about a Noongar father teaching his son traditional knowledge to survive an alien invasion.
Coles Smith, a Nyikina musician, will produce Kalaji 2, an electronic music album exploring cultural resilience.
Hamaguchi explained that his partner's grandfather, who possessed deep knowledge of traditional stories and customs, once took him out to make a kodj (axe).
"He knows all the knowledge about how to build tools and things like that, so as an adult, he actually took me out and told me how to make a kodj," he said.
Now a father himself, Hamaguchi said the experience stayed with him and inspired his latest project.
"I'm a father now too... and there was just something about that process of making it that I just kept thinking about, and wanted to put that into a project," he said.
He hopes Kodj will engage younger audiences while preserving cultural knowledge.
"I do it in a kind of entertaining way that young fellas can watch it and enjoy the movie, but also learn how to make things," he said.
Hamaguchi also acknowledged the challenges of working as an independent filmmaker.
"I'm super grateful. Being a freelance filmmaker with a young fella and a family, it's hard sometimes, you're worried about if you can pay the bills... so this funding helps with that and lets me work on the project," he said.
The Minderoo Artist Fund, established in 2020, aims to foster vibrant communities by investing in the arts.
The 2025 cohort includes dance artists, musicians, writers, visual artists, and theatre-makers.
Each recipient will receive either a $35,000 grant or a six-week residency at Forrest Hall in Perth to develop new artistic work.
Minderoo Foundation co-chair Nicola Forrest AO said she was excited to see the impact of the latest cohort.
"The Minderoo Artist Fund's 2025 cohort is a stunning group of creatives who devote their lives to the arts and the positive impact it has on our communities," she said.
Minderoo Foundation CEO John Hartman said the fund reflects Minderoo's commitment to supporting artists and arts organisations in WA.
"Art has the power to bring people together, inspire change and create the sense of belonging and meaning that our communities need to thrive," he said.
Other recipients include:
Laura Boynes (Dance) – Developing Subtext, an experimental theatre work exploring communication and power dynamics, featuring mixed-ability artists.
Alan Fyfe (Literature) – Writing The Nine Angles, a novel using magical realism to explore gentrification and homelessness in the Peel Region.
Sarah Nelson (Theatre) – Advancing Into the Fog, a performance based on her experiences with Long Covid and Functional Neurological Disorder, through a residency at PICA.
Elise Reitze-Swensen (Music Composition) – Creating Matrescence in Sound, a 20-track electro-acoustic album capturing the transition to motherhood.
Fleur Schell (Visual Arts & Community Engagement) – Leading Biosphere, a large-scale public arts event in Goomalling involving community workshops and collaborations with artists, scientists, and Indigenous custodians.
Residency recipients at Forrest Hall include:
Emma Fishwick (Dance) – Developing I promise you this time it's true, a work exploring personal truths and beliefs in times of crisis through filmed portraits and dance.
Hiroshi Kobayashi (Visual Arts) – Creating S(Es)graph\S(Es)gram, a series of abstract portraits capturing unconscious motivations of individuals at UWA and Forrest Hall.
The 2025 announcement event also recognised WA author Holden Sheppard as the recipient of the Minderoo Artist Award.
Mr Sheppard, a previous Artist Fund participant, received a $50,000 award for his work on the sequel to Invisible Boys, exploring themes of discrimination in Australian Rules football and masculinity.
"This is beyond life changing as a mid-career artist telling West Australian stories," Sheppard said.
The event was held in Perth near the future site of the new Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), which is being developed through a $30 million philanthropic partnership between Minderoo and Edith Cowan University.