Nexus Arts

Nexus Arts is a North Adelaide gallery and contemporary arts organisation with a clear focus on culturally diverse, intercultural and First Nations artistic practice. Its program spans visual art, music and storytelling, giving visitors a chance to encounter work that explores cultural identity, connection and the many perspectives that make up Australian life. The Nexus Arts Gallery presents exhibitions by both emerging and established artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, working across a range of mediums in a contemporary context. Digital exhibitions are also available through the organisation’s website.

There is more to Nexus Arts than a traditional gallery visit. Its program includes the Nexus Live concert series, the Interplay development program, gallery exhibitions and studio residencies, alongside commissioned collaborative work. The website’s listings show a varied calendar of exhibitions, conversations, poetry and music, and live performances, including the Nexus Arts Retrospective, Conversations, a Feast of Poetry & Music, Ribbons in My Hair, All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Be, Sounds of Kabul, From the Desert to the Sea and Seams. What is on changes, so checking the current program is the best way to plan a visit.

The organisation describes itself as artist-focused and community-centred, with a role in supporting artistic development as well as presenting work to the public. Nexus Arts supports more than 100 Australian artists each year through its programs and provides opportunities for artists and arts workers from different backgrounds to connect, collaborate and investigate interculturalism in Australian arts. Its work is guided by a vision of contemporary Australian arts that better reflects the country’s cultural diversity, and by a commitment to developing emerging artists and engaging broad audiences.

Nexus Arts has roots in an artists’ collective formed in 1984 and has continued to play a role in Adelaide’s arts ecology through development programs and presentation opportunities. It is well suited to solo visitors who like taking time with exhibitions, as well as couples and groups looking for an arts-led outing or an evening event. Families and visitors new to contemporary art may also find the changing mix of exhibitions, music and storytelling an accessible way to explore different artistic practices, though individual events will suit different ages and interests. The organisation acknowledges the Kaurna people as the traditional owners of the land where it operates and recognises the continuing importance of visual arts, music and storytelling in Aboriginal cultures.