About the Speakers
Francis E. Parker
Francis E. Parker is the Curator – Exhibitions at the Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA, Melbourne. Prior to commencing at MUMA in
2011, Francis worked for the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, first as a curatorial assistant and then as
Curator, Contemporary Australian Art, contributing to exhibitions including: Contemporary Australia: Optimism, 2008; 6th
Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art,
2009; and Scott Redford: Introducing Reinhardt Dammn, 2010. Francis has taken a coordinating role in many of MUMA’s
exhibitions with highlights including: Reinventing the Wheel: The Readymade Century, 2013; Francis Upritchard: Jealous
Saboteurs,
2016; Christian Thompson: Ritual Intimacy, 2017; Robert Smithson: Time Crystals, 2018; and Samson Young: Real Music,
2020. Between 2015 and 2020, he coordinated Sound Spaces, a series of experimental music performances in collaboration with
organisations including the Australian Art Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring, Liquid Architecture and Room40. Most recently he worked with
Melissa Ratliff to produce the online writing project Queer Readings of the Monash University Collection, 2021.
IMAGE > Portrait of Francis E. Parker.
Sebastian Henry-Jones
Sebastian Henry-Jones is an emerging curator led by an interest in writing, DIY thinking. He looks to embody these ideals in a practice that centres the needs, ideas and requirements of those that he works with, and so his practice is informed by striving for a personal ethics with sincerity, generosity, honest communication and learning at its core.
Seb has staged group exhibitions and independent projects in Sydney and interstate. He is a co-founder of DIY exhibition formats Desire Lines and Emerson, a former editor at Runway Journal, and holds curatorial roles at The 22nd Biennale of Sydney and West Space.
IMAGE > Portrait of Sebastian Henry-Jones.