The Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA) is stepping beyond its previous boundaries. For the 2027 edition, a new international curatorium is being formed, drawing in curators and cultural voices from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. What began as a regional platform is now evolving into a networked dialogue spanning the breadth of the Indian Ocean, with residencies, exhibitions and artist collaborations set to unfold over the next two years.
Backed by the Maitri Cultural Partnership grant through the Centre for Australia–India Relations and additional support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), IOTA is beginning to resemble less a local triennial and more a decentralised, multi-country conversation about the future of craft. The seven-member curatorial panel includes Kallol Datta and Shaleen Wadhwana from India, Ignatia Nilu from Indonesia, Catriona Maddocks from Malaysia, Nim Niyomsyn from Thailand, and Australians Miranda Johnson and Zali Morgan. These names are not decorative. Each brings grounded expertise in community-led art, memory, decolonial frameworks and material experimentation.
According to IOTA Curatorial Chair Jude van der Merwe, “The curators bring deep expertise, distinct cultural perspectives and a shared commitment to international dialogue through craft.” But dialogue, here, is not confined to exhibitions and panels. The structure of IOTA27 includes reciprocal residencies between Australia and India, regional forums supported by DFAT’s ASEAN–Australia Centre, and what the organisers call a “Craft Co-Lab” in Perth this November. It is less a series of travelling shows and more a constellation of exchanges shaped as much by geography as by shared curiosity.
For Indian curators like Wadhwana, whose recent work with Chemould Prescott Road involved combing through 15,000 archival items for a landmark exhibition, and Datta, whose research touches on memory, resistance and radical knowledge systems, the idea of an Australian residency offers more than just a change of scene. It allows access to stories that have long moved between these two shores, but rarely with institutional support. On the Australian side, Morgan, a Noongar curator, brings strong local insight into Indigenous art practice and decolonising curatorial work. Johnson, based in Perth, has been active in socially engaged programming across artist-run and public institutions.
The inclusion of Southeast Asian curators builds out this dialogue in ways that could challenge traditional biennale models. Nilu, who has worked with ARTJOG since 2015, is known for bringing traditional craft forms into contemporary debate. Maddocks, based in Sarawak, blends UK training with local storytelling, using art to rethink identity. Niyomsyn, with a ceramics focus and a career spanning Bangkok and London, adds depth to conversations about material practice across time and place.
According to the IOTA media release dated 10 July 2025, the expanded curatorial format is backed by multiple tiers of government, academic and philanthropic support, including Creative Australia, Curtin University and Lotterywest. There is also the IOTA Ambassadors network, a group of private backers helping to drive the project’s growth. For an event that began with a focus on Western Australia, IOTA is now walking the talk of regional collaboration, not just flying flags.
The October–November 2025 program in Perth will mark the first physical meeting of this new curatorial group. From there, the planning continues for IOTA27, with artist selection, program co-development and exhibition frameworks shaped by the collective. There is an ambition here that is not always visible in similar events: to move beyond a host-and-guest model and build systems of mutual agency.
It is too early to say whether the expanded curatorium will lead to permanent structural change in how Australian arts institutions work with craft traditions from neighbouring regions. But for now, IOTA is offering a live case study in transnational cooperation. The fact that its next edition is being shaped by residencies rather than only email threads is already a marker of intent.
As institutions across the world debate how to decolonise themselves, build fairer networks and reach audiences without falling back on tired tropes, the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial is quietly attempting to model a different rhythm. Its approach is not fast, and perhaps that’s the point. Craft, after all, takes time. And so does trust.
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