Felicity Fenner
Shifting Ground – Preorder

Please note this title is under preorder. All orders will be shipped November 2025.

Reframing art, reclaiming place and reshaping cultural memory.

Shifting Ground:The Evolving Role of Art in the Australian Public Domain is an exploration into the recent shifts in the rationale, methodology and engagement with art projects in the Australian public domain. Addressing a history long dominated by former colonialist imperatives from voices of privilege, the publication examines a contemporary cultural resurgence that has embraced inclusivity, respect and activism in artistic and place-based storytelling. It captures the growing visibility and necessity of First Nations art, perspectives and history which has shaped our knowledge systems in ecological preservation and cultural justice.

With a foreword by contemporary artist and curator Tony Albert and four essays and eleven case studies written by leading industry practitioners and experts that have been at the forefront of this cultural shift, the book is a present-day reference in understanding the changing landscape of public art in Australia. Public art examples include works by Abdul Abdullah, Tony Albert, Brook Andrew, Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan, Badger Bates, Beastman (Bradley Eastman), Daniel Boyd, Craig Burton, Gary Carsley & Renjie Teoh, Megan Cope, David Cross, Keg de Souza, Dirt Witches Scrub Collective, Mikala Dwyer, Stevie Fieldsend/Douglas Annand, Chris Fox, Ghost Net Collective, Kate Golding, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Julie Gough, Tina Havelock Stevens, Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, Mike Hewson, Callum Morton, Jacob Nash, James Nguyen, Tom Nicholson, Rose Nolan, Steven Rhall, Charles Robb, Linda Tegg, Judy Watson and Zakpage.

Felicity Fenner is a curator of contemporary art and Chair of the City of Sydney’s Public Art Advisory Panel. She has curated over 40 exhibitions for public galleries and museums, including the 2008 Adelaide Biennial, Australia’s group exhibition for the 2009 Venice Biennale, the 2017-2019 Perth Festivals, and a number of international exhibitions in her capacity as founding director of UNSW Galleries (2012-2018). Recent curatorial projects have focussed on the public domain, as curatorial advisor on Macquarie Group’s public art commissions for the Martin Place metro station, and as the state government’s curator of public art at Barangaroo. 

Hardcover
176 Pages
250 x 180 mm

Author/Editor: Felicity Fenner
Design: Evi-O.Studio
Texts: Felicity Fenner, Tony Albert, Tara Heffernan, Alison Page, Amy Spiers, Prudence Gibson, Edition Office, Danielle Robson, Bethan Donnelly, Ellen van Neerven, Barbara Flynn, Callum Morton, Chris Fox, Nina Miall

ISBN: 9 780645 521061
2025 FE048