The Art Gallery of New South Wales is one of Australia’s flagship art museums and the state’s leading visual arts institutions. Through their exhibitions and programs, the Art Gallery of New South Wales spotlights fine International and Australian art to a wide audience.
Launched in 2013, the Edmund Capon Fellowship program honours the 33-year leadership of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s (AGNSW) former director Edmund Capon AM OBE. Initially proposed by Neil Balnaves AO, the Fellowship has been supported by The Balnaves Foundation since its inception.
The Fellowship builds on the legacy of Edmund Capon, who as Director cultivated engagement with Asia, promoting Asian art and culture through scholarship, collection and exhibition. Resulting in a major Australian initiative for strategic staff exchange between AGNSW and Asian cultural institutions, that not only fosters close relationships with international museums but places the Gallery as a leading international cultural institution.
In 2019, to commemorate Edmund Capon’s passing, The Balnaves Foundation supported the expansion of the Fellowship to include one international exchange in addition to the Asian exchange each year.
The AGNSW Edmund Capon Fellows include:
2015: Richard Beresford, Senior Curator of European Art and International Art; to India
2015: Matt Cox, Curator of Asian Art; to Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines
2016: Lily Yang, Head of Asian Art Conservation; to China
2017: Yuki Kawakami, Youth Programs Producer; to Singapore, Japan and China
2018: Dr Natalie Seiz, Senior Curator of Asian Art; to Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong
2019: Melanie Eastburn, Senior Curator of Asian Art; to Japan
2020: Lisa Catt, Assistant Curator of International Art; to Mexico
2023: Yin Cao, Specialist Curator of Chinese Art & Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd, Specialist Film Curator; to China
The International Edmund Capon Fellows include:
2014: Dong Li, Head of the Exhibition Department; Shaanxi History Museum, China
2015: Pitra Hutomo, Indonesian Visual Art Archive in Yogyakarta Indonesia
2016: Dr Ana Labrador, Assistant Director; National Museum of the Philippines
2017: Dr Vandana Sinha, Director Centre for Art & Archaeology; American Institute of Indian Studies; India
2019: Dr Lyu Xiao, Director Research Department; Beijing Fine Art Academy, China
2020: Dr Manami Yasui, Professor; International Research Centre for Japanese Studies
2023: Soojung Yi, Curator; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
NB: there were no Fellows in 2021-2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions
Michael Brand, John Kaldor AO, Joanna Capon OAM, 2017 Edmund Capon Fellowship recipient Vandana Sinha, Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Hamish Balnaves.
Find out more about the Art Gallery of New South Wales here.
Find out more about and donate to the Edmund Capon Fellowship Fund here.