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.
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.
