b. 1988 Garramilla / Larrakia Nation (Darwin, Australia)

Aida Azin is a painter, art facilitator and community organiser. Her painting practice advocates for self-representation, particularly cultural perspectives, within the visual arts. Aida’s art practice reflects on her experience as a Filipinx-Iranian, first-generation-born, settler in ‘Australia’. Her practice invites collective discussions with individuals and communities who are in the process of strengthening connections with their cultural heritage. Aida’s artworks are developed through studio painting, journal writing, conversations with communities and first-person accounts.

In 2019 Aida co-founded the Saluhan Collective with an aim to establish a network between creatives in Australia and the Philippines. Now, with the direction of MJ Flamiano and Catherine Ortega-Sandow it has expanded to include collaborative projects that combine arts and community development. The values of Saluhan Collective are underpinned by notions of kinship, reciprocity, and the desire to create spaces that interweave artistry and community. 

Aida holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Art from Adelaide College of the Arts and an Honours Bachelor's Degree in Visual Art from the University of South Australia. Her research into systemic racism in the visual arts, viewed through a postcolonial lens, led to the creation of "Brown Pillars," an art installation c comprised of paintings on unstretched canvas, secured to bamboo structures as a metaphor for scaffolding on which art institutions were built. This artwork was written about in Art Collector Magazine and presented as an exhibition for her feature interview with Namila Benson on ABC TV's Artworks.

Aida’s artwork has been exhibited in galleries overseas such as  Project 20 (Manila, PH) and Sandimen Cultural Center (Pingtung, Taiwan) and across ‘Australia’ at Nexus Gallery, Ace Open, Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), Bus Projects, FELT space, Blindside and Firstdraft. She is represented by Yavuz Gallery, with spaces in Singapore and Cadigal Land/Sydney.



email: hello@aidaazin.com





GRANTS & AWARDS

Wyndham Art Prize 2022 exhibition, finalist, Wyndham Cultural Centre, Werribee VIC, 2022.

Mentorship with artist Jo Mott, Brimbank City Council VIC, 2021.

Dialekto by Saluhan collective, NAVA funded Carstairs prize, NSW, 2021.

Saluhan Collective, Quick response grant, City of Melbourne, 2021.

Semifinalist, 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards SA, The Coffee Club Australia Arts and Fashion Award, 2018.

Practice-led research in the Philippines, Project & Development Grant, Carclew, North Adelaide, SA, 2016.



EDUCATION

Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), University of South Australia, 2017.

Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design, Adelaide College of the Arts, 2015.



SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023

Brown Pillars, Art Works gallery, ABC Studios, Melbourne, VIC.

2021

Stay Climbing, Window residency, Arts House, VIC


2019

Brown Pillars, First Draft, Sydney.

Lonely God, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne.

2017

enormous blind spots, Format Gallery, Adelaide.

The Kid in Me, John Harvey Gallery, SA.

2016

Everything is Stolen, Fontanelle Gallery, SA.

Everything is Stolen, Project 20, Manila, the Philippines.

2015

Kalahati Kidz, Grace Emily Hotel, Adelaide.



SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

Ina, Mata, Asucena, Contemporary Art From the Philippines, Sandimen Cultural Centre, Pingtung County, Taiwan.

2023

Archival Aesthetics, Seventh Gallery, Richmond, VIC.

2022

Amateur Thief, Nexus Gallery, SA (upcoming)

Wyndham Art Prize 2022 exhibition, Wyndham Cultural Centre, VIC

And Shuffling, Conners Conners, VIC

2021

Flow, Blindside, VIC
Sydney Contemporary (presents: Australia’s International Art Fair), online

True Colours, Bus Projects, VIC.

2020

20:20, Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), NSW.

If the future is to be worth anything: 2020 South Australian Artist Survey, ACE Open, Adelaide. 

Rise Against Hunger #WeBidAsOne benefit auction, Gavel & Block, Salcedo Auctions, Manila, PH.

2019

Circular, Blakdot Gallery, Melbourne.

SALUHAN: Pearl Diving Report, Project 20, Manila, the Philippines.

SALUHAN: a Community Arts Event, the Night Heron, VIC.

SALUHAN: a Community Arts Event, Negative Space residency, Minor Works, Adelaide.

Spring show - (a fundraiser for Djap Wurrung), Brunswick East, Melbourne.

Eight Fingers Crossed, FELT Space, Adelaide.

Firstdraft Auction 2019, Firstdraft, Sydney.

2018

A Sinking Feeling (the Politics of Risk), Blakdot Gallery, Melbourne.

Critical Mass: Locked In, Blakdot Gallery, Melbourne.

International Citizen, T1 Adelaide Airport, SA.

Acetate, Mr Goodbar, Adelaide.

2017

A Walk in the Park... and other Calamities, SASA Gallery, Adelaide.

I’ll Be Alright Without You, Format Gallery, Adelaide.

[sic] Rose, Praxis, SA.

Wonderwalls Street Art Festival, Harts Mill Flour Shed, SA.

Home Thoughts from Abroad, Praxis, SA.

2016

Mother, Tongue, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide.

Six Contemporary Artists, Floating Goose Gallery, Adelaide.

4:24, Project 20, Manila, Philippines.

Single Use, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide.

2015

Open Inspection, Floating Goose Gallery, Adelaide.

Leisure, Fontanelle Gallery, SA.

Chromazone, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide.

Content Unavailable, The Mill, Adelaide.

Baboon Ritual, Café Troppo, Adelaide.

2014 

Exit, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide.

Graduates Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide.

Postered, Tooth and Nail Gallery, Adelaide.




ART WORKSHOP FACILITATION

Toddler Tuesday, Brimbank City Council, since 2019 - 2023.

School Holiday Workshops, Footscray Community Arts Centre, VIC, 2023.

Food for Thought, Immigration Museum, Melbourne, 2022.

Youth art workshops, Cohealth Artsgen, VIC, 2022.

Eat UR feelings, Nextwave, Brunswick VIC, 2022.

Saluhan Collective: Dialekto, Siteworks, Brunswick VIC, 2022.

Community mural, Brimbank City Council, St Albans VIC, 2020.

The LAB, Brimbank City Council, St Albans VIC, 2020.

Explore Arts Workshops, Carclew, North Adelaide SA, 2017, 2018.

Womadelaide Kidzone, Carclew, North Adelaide SA, 2017.




PROJECT COLLABORATION & COMMISSIONS

(k)not, Cohealth Artsgen, VIC, 2022.

Feast of Resistance, curated by Priya Pavri, supported by Seventh Gallery and Yarra City Arts VIC, 2022.

Pinxy Cinema: Unholy Balikbayan x Tito Timmy, Composite and SEVENTH Gallery, Collingwood VIC, 2022.

Saluhan Collective, Pari x Gudskul online residency, 2022.

COVID Lockdown care package by Next Wave, Brunswick VIC, 2021.

Flinders University, mural and mentoring, Bedford Park SA, 2019.

Eight Fingers Crossed, FELT Space, supported by Tutti and Carclew, Adelaide. 2019.

Stories from the Future, participant, supported by Diversity Arts Australia, Nexus Arts, Country Arts SA, Workshop, Adelaide, 2019.

Street Art Explosion, mural, supported by Adelaide Fringe, 2015, 2016, 2018.

Wonderwalls Street Art Festival, mural, Renewal SA, 2017.

Atlas, Adelaide Botanic Gardens Bicentennial Conservatory, Adelaide, 2015.




SELECTED INTERVIEWS & PUBLICATIONS

The Calamansi Story: Filipino Migrants in Australia by Fides Mae Santos and Grace Guinto, Entree Pinays Pty Ltd, 2023.

Aida Azin: An Exploration of Mother-Tongue Language by Rayleen Forester, un Magazine 14.1, Melbourne, May 2020.

Eight Fingers Crossed, by Aida Azin, Alycia Bennett, Tessa Crathern, Kathryn Evans, Karlien van Rooyen, Ellesse McLindin, Emmaline Zanelli, Thomas McCammon, and Olivia De Silva, Have You Seen Him, Adelaide, 2019.

Interview #64 - Aida Azin, interview by Cher Tan, 23 July 2018, LIMINAL, liminalmag.com/interviews/aida-azin

IMAG[IN]E: Aida Azin, interview by Sascha Tan, 26 February 2018, Verse Magazine, versemag.com.au/magazine/imagine-aida-azin/

Space is Cool as Fuck, by Kate Howells and illustrations by various artists, Pantera Press, Australia, 2017.

Space Rocks!, by Kate Howells and illustrations by various artists, Pantera Press, Australia, 2017.

A rest along the way, by Rachel Earl, Issue 10: Purpose, April 2017, Fine Print, fineprintmagazine.com/rest-along-the-way

Interview: Aida Azin, by Emmaline Zanelli, 8 August, 2016, Yewth, yewthmag.com/blog-feed/2016/8/8/interview-aida-azin




PUBLIC TALKS

Unison Symposium, Collingwood Yards, VIC, 2023.

Art Meets Theory roundtable, Critical Race Theory & Resistance Art conference, Flinders University, SA, 2019.

Who speaks for a community?, Panel discussion, Sister Gallery, SA, 2017.

Intersectional feminism in the South Australian arts, FRAN FEST, Art Gallery of SA, Adelaide, 2017.

Creative Women of Colour: a panel discussion, Zombie Queen’s ZINE SWAP 6, ACE Open, Adelaide, 2017.




Photo: Thomas McCammon



Mark