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Barbara Flynn
Barbara Flynn is a curatorial advisor to governments, foundations, universities, development companies and architectural firms, working with artists to implement singular works of art in public infrastructure and private development projects across Australia’s capital cities and regional areas. Central to her practice is the conviction that public realm works with meaning draw on intellect and clarity of idea, and avoid the merely decorative.
As curator to the cities of Sydney and Adelaide, Flynn has collaborated with large and diverse teams to transform poorly functioning areas, guided by the idea of the working city and by giving artists free rein to reconceptualise them.
Many of the projects she directs support Australian Aboriginal artists. While not Aboriginal herself, Flynn stresses the importance of recognising the trauma that has been inflicted, and seeks to embody this by inviting younger-generation Aboriginal curators to work with her on projects.
“I've attended The World Around summits in New York and Rotterdam and many others by tuning in online from Sydney in the middle of the night. They are a primary source of important new information for me on what the world's most brilliant and imaginative thinkers and practitioners are doing today. The vision and what can feel like the preternatural achievements of the Young Climate Prize recipients remind me of the power of first ideas and the importance of supporting young people as they are embarking on lives that could well change the world as my generation hasn't managed to do.”