The recipients of the Major prize, Highly Commended and Artist Residency will be determined by guest judge, Rhana Devenport ONZM. Rhana Devenport is a curator, writer and academic based in Sydney/Gadigal. She is the former director of Art Gallery of South Australia, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Len Lye Centre. She was Senior Project Officer with the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (1994 – 2004) at Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and held senior positions with Sydney Festival and Biennale of Sydney.
Her curatorial projects have included major solo exhibitions with Nalini Malani, Robert Wilson, Lee Mingwei, Judith Wright, Fiona Pardington, Song Dong, Yin Xiuzhen and Zhang Peili. In 2017, Rhana Devenport curated Lisa Reihana: Emissaries, New Zealand’s Pavilion at Biennale Art Venezia. She currently serves on the Mori Art Museum International Advisory Committee, Tokyo and The Power Institute Foundation, Sydney.
'It’s a very fulfilling moment when you realize you have a connection to a culture so different from your own. Whilst on a residency in Fowlers Gap outback NSW, I met an Artist Badger Bates and we instantly clicked. I listened to his stories and he seemed to recognise the Irish story telling culture in me. We weren’t competitive. It was a moment to share. I began to see connections and answers that I’d been looking for and I was flattered that he could see something about my work which connected and triggered something in him also.'
The major prizewinning artwork will be acquired into the Sunshine Coast Art Collection. Winners will be announced on Thursday 24 September 2026.
Colin Pennock, Our Quiet Languages, Oil and Gouache on Board, 122 x 122cm
