Artist Talk: The Long Way Home with Kush Kuiy

Artist and producer Kush reflects on almost four years of research into diasporic artmaking, festival-making, and cultural memory. 

Through Rise of South Sudan Music and Arts Festival and a new work, Homecoming, she explores how art can teach us who we were, are, and — most importantly — could be, while strengthening community. Join us for an evening of storytelling, dialogue, and connection.

A lifelong resident of the South East of Melbourne, Kush has become a prominent figure in the local arts scene, staging innovative experiences that spotlight performing artists emerging from the vibrant community. 

Event format:

• Welcome & Acknowledgement of Country
• Solo Artist Talk (20mins)
• Fireside chat (20mins)
• Audience Q&A (15–20 mins)
• Light refreshments / casual networking (45mins)

This project is produced by Nostalgic Event Management and supported by Creative Victoria through the Creators Fund.

Biography

Kush Kuiy is an independent producer and storyteller. Her artistic practice explores and draws inspiration from her third-culture experience; different meanings of home; her cultural heritage; and the natural world. She is a multidisciplinary, genre-bending artist, who brings a unique and fearless approach to her storytelling by experimenting with form to find the ‘right way to tell a story.’

Her work includes a series of large scale screen printed visual works for Viv’s Place - a social housing project in the South East and working with Outer Urban Projects on the dance-theater work "Vigil" as a writer. She is also working on a long-term research project entitled “HOMECOMING” which explores her journey from her country of birth, Australia, to her family’s country of origin.

Kush co-founded & is the producer of the bi-annual Rise of South Sudan Music and Arts Festival. She is also a founding member of the Way Over There Collective - a group committed to building the arts scene in the City of Casey and was the Art Director of the GRID Series’ inaugural Sun, Earth and Moon Festival in 2022.

With a background in International and Community Development Kush views art as a powerful mode of development—bringing people together, sparking dialogue, and connecting local stories to global contexts. 

Her leadership and creative vision have been recognised by the Australia Council for the Arts Future Leaders program (2022), the Lindsay King Arts Award (2021), and the Victorian Independent Producers Initiative (2020).