Wayne Quilliam

About Wayne

Wayne Quilliam is an Aboriginal Australian photographic artist, curator, videographer, drone pilot and cultural adviser, born in Hobart and raised in the Tasmanian suburb of Risdon Vale. He joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1979 and acquired his first camera in 1980 while stationed in Hong Kong, beginning a career that now spans more than four decades. He estimates he has visited between 300 and 400 Aboriginal communities, and has documented everything from ceremony to community life, sport to social justice campaigns.

His work has been exhibited in Havana, Tokyo, Mexico City, Caracas, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, as well as at the United Nations in New York, and he has collaborated with Indigenous groups in Cuba, Mexico, Bolivia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Guam. His awards include a 2008 Walkley Award, the 2008 Human Rights Media Award, 2009 NAIDOC Artist of the Year and the 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize. He teaches as an adjunct professor at RMIT University in the School of Media and Communication.

Beyond his artistic practice, Wayne presents on Indigenous culture, reconciliation, and the role of business and community in supporting self-determination. He combines four decades of work in communities across Australia and overseas with an understanding of how Indigenous Australia intersects with the broader business and civic landscape. His presentations and workshops suit organisations at any stage of their reconciliation journey — a NAIDOC Week event, a cultural awareness workshop for a team, or an address to business leaders on the responsibilities and opportunities of Indigenous engagement.