2026 sees the second iteration of Critical Conversations after a very successful 2025 series. At a time when the world seems to be all about creating division, some of Darwin’s leading arts organisations have come together to create CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS. This series of forums will run throughout the year, allowing for important conversations about arts activism, ethical arts practice and our social responsibility as creatives. Each organisation will host their forum, focusing on issues that affect them. There will also be time for audience questions.

How can the art community effectively promote critical dialogue while navigating the pressures of funding and commercialisation? What strategies can be implemented better to support underrepresented artists in a rapidly changing environment? In what ways can artists maintain their creative integrity amidst the increasing demands for speed and profitability in the art world?

In 2025, we successfully discussed: the importance of building long-term relationships and legacy, Ethical Storytelling, Arts Censorship, and working in arts institutions when they are developed without you in mind.

Keep up to date by following us all on Instagram.

@browns_mart  
@corrugatedironyoutharts  
@darwincommunityarts  
@darwinfringefestival  
@tracksdance 
@Artback NT
@NCCA

Conversation Series 2, Episode 3 - Northern Centre for Contemporary Art (NCCA)

The survival of contemporary print media

In the age of AI and social media, why do we continue to commission human writers and invest money and scarce resources into printing magazines? What are the special challenges of writing in the ‘small town’, and who is ‘reading the regions’? And, importantly, how can we get a laugh out of it all?
Friday 14 August | 3 – 4.30 pm
Location: Ground Floor, Charles Darwin University
Danala Education and Community Precinct,
54 Cavenagh Street, Darwin City
FREE - no booking required

Panel Members

Join Maurice O’Riordan (writer, curator and editor), Una Rey (Editor, Artlink Magazine) and Petrit Abazi (Director, NCCA) for a discussion on the survival of contemporary print media.

Led by NCCA. In partnership with ArtsLink and Dog-Eared Drawin Print Fair.

Other Conversations To be Confirmed

May 21 (postponed) - Darwin Community Arts (DCA) - Art in the Dark Times. Increasing climate change, increasing poverty, increasing hate - how is the poly-crisis affecting our work?

October 7 - Corrugated Iron Youth Arts - Topic TBC

Nov 5 - Artback - Topic TBC

Conversation Series 2, Episode1 - Tracks Dance Company

Should arts organisations last forever?

Tracks hosted the first conversation for the year, 

In times of limited and decreasing funding, and ongoing rises in costs, should we financially support ongoing organisations, and if so, is there a time limit? How do new players enter an already saturated sector? And what happens to the legacy and skills developed by mature arts organisations?

Panel Members

Tahlia Biggs, currently an Emerging Producer at Brown's Mart (an organisation whose roots go back to 1969), and is running the First Nations Engagement Program.
Ange O'Donnell, currently Executive Manager Community and Cultural Services at the City of Darwin, based in Darwin, Northern Territory, has a long history of working in and with the arts sector
David McMmicken, Tracks Artistic Director - Founding Member of Tracks (A company whose roots go back to 1988).
James Mangohig, is a music producer, has worked for most major organisations in Darwin.

Conversation Series 2, Episode3 - Darwin Fringe Festival

Art as a Public Service

 Everyone expects it to happen, but no one wants to pay for it. There's an extreme divide in the way arts are valued, with 1% of creatives making huge amounts of money, and then everyone else is struggling to be paid accordingly. Then there's the discussion around industrialisation of creativity in addition to the important part that arts play in democracy. We can't live without it, but at this rate we can't live on it.

Panel Members

Cyan Sue Lee, Dr Tanzil Rahman, Lauren Moss