We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners and Custodians of these lands: particularly the Whadjuk Noongar people of Boorloo (Perth), and the Kariyarra people of Marapikurrinya (Port Hedland). We also acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Western Australia, whose enduring connection to Country and ongoing contributions to our communities we respect and honour. We appreciate and are deeply grateful for the privilege of working on these lands.
Copyright for imagery and written content in this publication is held by FORM Building a State of Creativity Limited or the individual contributors, where applicable. All permissions to use these images have been received. Every effort has been made to adhere to best practice ICIP protocols.
Front page: Welcome to Country, opening night of LightingtheSound, Albany WA, 2026. Photo by Astrid
@formwa
Volzke.
From where we live
Welcome to FORM, and to the next six months of our world.
We connect and collaborate with communities, creative practitioners, businesses, and all levels of government across Western Australia –from the Pilbara to the Great Southern. We explore and empower meaningful social and cultural engagement through artistic projects, high-impact partnerships, and creative learning programs.
Creativity shapes the way people see themselves and the world around them, that it's an upstream solution to the social and economic challenges communities face. This premise is evident in everything we do: from large-scale cultural tourism experiences that draw visitors and strengthen local economies, to Future Creators programs building creative and critical thinking skills in young
people and their teachers, to thought-leading public art and cultural placemaking work across the state.
We're an independent nonprofit, and our mission is clear — to build a vibrant creative economy for the wellbeing of all Western Australian communities.
You'll find us at FORM Gallery on Whadjuk Noongar Country in Perth, and at Spinifex Hill Studio, our Aboriginal art centre on Kariyarra Country in South Hedland, and in communities across WA. We hope you find something in here that stays with you.
Lighting the Sound, Kari Kola, Albany WA, 2026.
Photo by Chad Peacock
See the impact of our work
FORM Gallery & Café
FORM Gallery is a space for the ideas, stories and creativity emerging from Western Australia's communities through exhibitions, residencies and events that bring together First Nation artists, educators, writers and the next generation of the state's creative talent.
The Café is operated by El Cabro, keeping the local community fed and caffeinated seven days a week.
Stop by, there's always something worth seeing.
FORM Gallery & Café
4 Shenton Road
Claremont WA 6010
Mon–Sun: 6:30am–12:00pm
form.net.au/form-gallery gallery@form.net.au
@formgalleryandcafe
Unwavering
Unmistakably Strong, Undeniably Fierce.
An exhibition curated by Ruby Alderton.
A celebration of the unwavering strength & fierceness of Aboriginal women residing in the Pilbara region. Aboriginal art centres across the country play a pivotal role in providing a place of belonging for Mob, safe spaces to express ourselves without judgment, a place to heal, and they create an environment for generational exchanges & learning.
“Although our lives may be riddled with heaviness, pain, trauma, grief, we as artists have chosen to express and continue to heal ourselves from these harsh realities with a gentle, tender, soft palette.” - Ruby Alderton
Opening Night: 9 July
Milngurr, Ruby Alderton, Acrylic on Canvas, 2023.
Future Creators
From Learning to Creating
From reimagining the way students engage in the classroom to celebrating literature and storytelling in some of the most remote communities, FORM’s Future Creators programs have have applied creative learning techniques to transform the way thousands of young Western Australian children learn and experience education.
Join us as we celebrate the impact of these programs over the years, and as we look toward a state where every young person, no matter where they live or learn, develops the creativity and critical thinking skills to shape their own future; where education equips children not just for the jobs of today, but for the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world.
Opening Night: 10 September
Opening of FORM's Creative Schools NOW I OWN celebration, 2024. Photograph by Dan Macbride.
Threads of Listening
Ben David
Perth-based textile artist Ben David transforms traditional rug-making into immersive, multisensory experiences that prioritise touch, sound, and accessibility. Working with hand-tufted rugs, interactive e-textiles, and sculptural forms, his practice integrates micro-computers, pressure sensors, and embedded audio to invite audiences to connect with art and place through physical interaction rather than sight alone.
To be developed during his Artist-in-Residence at FORM Gallery and Café, Threads of Listening will bring together a series of interactive textile works incorporating layered field recordings of Perth's local environment, from birdsong and wildlife to urban nature sounds and site-specific ambient textures, captured throughout the residency.
The exhibition reflects David's ongoing commitment to accessible and inclusive arts practice, and builds on his collaboration with Radio DADAA on the radio program Tactile Rift.
Join us for tactile tours, artist talks, and tufting workshops as part of the accompanying public program.
Opening Night: 5 November
Ben David, 2026. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Public Program Details
Artist Talk Tactile Tour
Sat 14 November 11:00–12:00pm Sat 28 November 11:00–12:00pm
Join Ben for a relaxed conversation about his exhibition, the stories woven into his work, and the ideas behind his hand-tufted rugs.
A closer look at his practice, and the collaborative process that brings community voices into the work.
COST: FREE BOOKING REQUIRED
A guided tour through the exhibition with Ben, exploring the materials, techniques, and processes behind each piece.
A relaxed, engaging way to experience the works up close, from the artist's perspective.
COST: FREE BOOKING REQUIRED
Tufting
Workshops
Sat 21 November & Sat 5 December 11:00–12:30pm
A hands-on workshop contributing to a shared textile work. Through guided experimentation with hand-tufting techniques, this session encourages creativity, conversation, and collective making.
COST: $100 MAX 4 PEOPLE (per workshop)
AGES: 16+ MATERIALS PROVIDED
For more information and booking, go to form.net.au/gallery-cafe
Albany Is
Balgang Albany
Launching in August as part of Albany 2026, Albany Is is an app-based immersive audio experience drawn from more than 170 recorded interviews. Part oral history, part interactive podcast, the app invites listeners to walk through Kinjarling/ Albany and hear the region narrated by the people who know it best - Menang Elders and broader Noongar community members, post-war migrants, farmers, scientists, skaters, poets, and teenagers figuring out what this place means to them right now.
The stories span voices from the 1890s to the present day, organised around themes that emerged directly from the interviews: industry and its aftermath, routes taken and reasons to stay, the invisible labour of women who kept the settlement running, and the powerful convergence where Western science is finally catching up to millennia of Menang knowledge.
Each theme is an interactive episode. Listeners navigate at their own pace.
Produced by Envelope Audio and Barking Wolf as part of the Albany 2026 program.
For more information, visit
A community-led closing celebration for Albany residents and visitors of all ages are invited to carry a lamp and walk together up the hills and along the trails of the coastal fringe. Along the way, lamp-bearers will pause to form a string of light, becoming part of an enormous ephemeral artwork captured in breathtaking footage to be shared
One of the largest single-performative gatherings ever staged in Western Australia, the event is as much a celebration of human cooperation as a homage to the Albany landscape.
Roebourne Art Development Program
For nearly 20 years, FORM has been active in supporting the creative community of Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. Since 2008, this has included managing Port Hedland’s Aboriginal art collective, Spinifex Hill Studio. FORM also has a long-running association with Aboriginal and Islander artists working in and around Roebourne, and since 2019 has collaborated with the artists and staff of Cheeditha Art Group, Juluwarlu Art Group, and Yinjaa-Barni Art on artistic and professional development projects through our Roebourne Art Development Program.
This program, which now also supports independent practitioners, helps artists develop skills that increase their opportunities to share their culture, further their careers, and generate income through art.
Artist Career Workshop with Cheeditha Art Group and Juluwarlu Art Group, Perth 2026. Photography by Marnie Richardson.
Future Creators
Since 2016, creative learning has been an organisation-wide strategy for FORM. We design and deliver programs like Scribblers and Creative Schools, to foster young people’s curiosity, a love of learning and their ability to make sense of the world around and within them.
Creative Schools trains teachers and creative practitioners to help children develop and use the Five Creative Habits of Learning; imagination, persistence, collaboration, inquisitiveness and discipline, while engaging with mainstream curriculum subjects like science and humanities.
Supported by internationally recognised creative learning mentors and scholars, Creative Schools transforms how students learn, teachers teach, and creative practitioners use artistic expertise in classrooms. It also shifts how education policy makers and school communities, from principals to parents and carers, understand the value of creativity in building young people’s life skills, agency and wellbeing.
Across 121 schools and counting, from Kindergarten to Year 12, FORM has delivered 209 Creative Schools programs in metropolitan and regional settings, across public, independent, Catholic and special assistance (CARE) schools. More than 10% of Western Australian public schools have now experienced Creative Schools firsthand.
Does your school want to get involved? Get in touch.
@creativeschoolswa
learning@form.net.au www.creativeschools.com.au
Creative Schools showcase, 2022 Image courtesy of FORM.
Scribblers
Scribblers bring together creatives, kids, teachers, parents and local storytellers to explore the magic of storytelling in all its forms. Our creatives are trained in the Creative Schools approach, so while Scribblers specialises in free, familyoriented events and condensed programs in schools, all activities lean into the Five Creative Habits. Since 2023 we've had great success taking Scribblers on the road into regional and remote areas including the Pilbara and the Goldfields.
Who knows? We may be coming to your region too.
@scribblersfest
scribblersfestival.com.au
FRONT, presented by Scribblers as part of FORM's creative learning programming, Perth WA, 2026. Photograph by Dan MacBride.
SEPTEMBER
Family Fun Day: Pilbara
This September, Scribblers hits the road again to bring the magic of storytelling, creativity and learning to children, young people and families across the Pilbara.
Visiting storytellers join local creatives for a day celebrating storytelling in all its forms and the creativity and stories of the community.
For more info check out scribblersfestival.com.au/scribblers-on-the-road
Spinifex Hill Studio
From its beginnings in 2008 as a small group painting in temporary spaces, Spinifex Hill Studio on Kariyarra Country in South Hedland has evolved into one of Western Australia’s most dynamic Aboriginal and Islander art producing centres. It’s unique in Australia as an urban-based, culturally neutral art centre representing First Nations artists from numerous cultural backgrounds. There is no dominant ‘house style’, rather the Studio supports an eclectic range of art practices in recognition of the diversity of First Nations experience.
The Studio is a member of the Indigenous Art Code, and of the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of Western Australia (AACHWA) and participates in, and contributes to, a national sector of over 99 Aboriginal Art Centres. In collaboration with FORM, the Studio’s staff and Aboriginal Council are gradually working towards independence and a future that is entirely governed by the artists and local leaders in service of the community.
An exhibition dedicated to five decades of NAIDOC, celebrating the culture, history, resilience and powerful voices of Aboriginal and Islander peoples.
Opening Celebration: 25 June | 4:30pm – 7:30pm
10 SEPTEMBER – 31 DECEMBER
Turn Up the Heat
Our final exhibition of 2026 before it gets too hot to leave the house.
Opening Celebration: 10 September | 4:30pm – 7:30pm
Spinifex Hill Studio, 2025. Image courtesy of FORM.
Make It Real
Make it Real is a social impact project lead by the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub Western Australia (AACHWA), as a community-led response to the widespread exploitation of Aboriginal and Islander culture in Australia's souvenir market.
AACHWA is proud to showcase Spinifex Hill Studio as a participating art centre, with artists Rekeshia Goodwin, Ruby Djikarra Alderton, Olive Joseph and Daisy Tinker contributing original works to the first release of authentic tourism products, now available in-studio and online.
Every purchase returns profits directly to artists and art centres, opening new pathways for Aboriginal artists in the tourism souvenir market.
Scrunchies
Tea Towels
Bag Charms
Buy Authentic Aboriginal Art
When you purchase through Spinifex Hill Studio, you are buying ethically. Artists receive fair payment, professional support, material supply, and genuine career development. Every sale helps secure a sustainable future for Aboriginal art and the communities it comes from.
Spinifex Hill Studio and FORM are members of the Indigenous Art Code, which preserves and promotes ethical trading in Aboriginal art. All relationships between the Studio and its artists, including every sale, are conducted in accordance with the Code.
The Studio is also a proud member of the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of Western Australia (AACHWA), which works for and with WA Aboriginal art centres to celebrate the strength of Aboriginal art and culture.
Supporting Spinifex Hill Studio means supporting the artists, their families, and the communities of the Pilbara directly.
Shop the Spinifex Hill Studio online store
Magnets
Creative Spaces & Places
Bold ideas. Considered outcomes. Exceptional delivery.
FORM's Arts and Cultural Consultancy provides professional expertise and strategic advice across activation, events, placemaking, public art, cultural infrastructure, and cultural policy and strategy. Connected to a wide network of leading artists and designers, we bring the right talent to every client, environment and community.
We are proud that our Land.MarkArt program supports Aboriginal and Islander practitioners to develop and deliver three-dimensional works for public art commissions, most recently at the Spoilbank Marina in Port Hedland.
To learn more or discuss how we can support your project, contact us at consulting@form.net.au .
Yagan Square, Perth, 2026.
by SoCo Studios, courtesy of Development WA.
Illuminate
Photo
Giving back is simple and rewarding
Without the generous support of our partners, patrons and donors, the work FORM does would simply not be possible. Those who contribute are not only investing in the organisation, but the broader arts sector, the next generation of young creatives, and the lives and livelihoods of fellow Western Australians.
Join our generous circle of partners and donors today, contact us on philanthropy@form.net.au
Or simply make a secure donation online.
Principal Project Partner (Pilbara)
Marilyn Burton
Nadia & Johnathan Lefroy
Narelle Grinceri
Nicolette Casella
Paula Rogers & Phil Thick
Paul & Sophie Chamberlain
Paul Kotsoglo & Alexandra Horoch
Partners and Donors confirmed as of May 2026 for the events and programming outlined in this program.
Peter Lee OAM & Shareen
Peter & Di Hammond
Stedman Ellis
Sue Fletcher & Richard Chapman
The Farm Margaret River Ltd
Tim Shanahan
Tim & Chris Ungar
Amanda Kailis PMAP Foundation
Cecile Crochu & Alan Ng
Lorraine & Graeme Rowley
Gallery Partner
Creative Thinker Partners
Traub
Illuminate Yagan Square, Perth, 2026. Photo by SoCo Studios, courtesy of Development WA.
