GINA FAIRLEY
Arts Journalist + Art Tour Leader + Curator + Jeweller
GINA FAIRLEY
Arts Journalist + Art Tour Leader + Curator + Jeweller
About Gina Fairley
Writing + Curating
Gina Fairley has straddled a 30-year career of across exhibition management, curating and arts journalism. Her early career was shaped by 14 years as an arts manager, starting out as Public Programs Manager for Wollongong Art Gallery (1991-1994), then in Corporate Sponsorship and Events for Opera Australia (1994-1997). She moved to America and was Director of Operations for Haines Gallery, San Francisco (1997-2001), and on her return to Australia, stepped into the role of Exhibition Coordinator and Registrar for the Biennale of Sydney, eventually moving in to the role of Exhibition Manager (2002-2004).
For the next decade (2005-2014), Gina split her time living across Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Sydney working as a freelance writer and curator specialising in the contemporary art of Southeast Asia. She was Regional Contributing Editor of Asian Art News and World Sculpture News [Hong Kong], held the Editorial Desk for the Philippines at ArtAsiaPacific from 2007-08 and was Co-editor of their 2008 Almanac surveying Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In 2013 she joined ArtsHub as Visual Arts Editor – a position she continues to hold part time.
She has curated exhibitions for UTS Gallery Sydney, La Trobe Visual Arts Centre Bendigo (Vic), TAKSU Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Ateneo Art Gallery (Manila, Philippines), MO_space in Manila, Yuchengco Museum (Manila), and Wollongong Art Gallery, including survey exhibitions for Mai Nguyen Long and Robert Robles, as well as over 100 exhibitions for the Sydney window gallery SLOT, which she co-founded and ran for 14 years.
Her passion across her broad career has been to celebrate the flourishing of art in the in-between spaces and to break down barriers by making art and design accessible to all.
Tour Leader + Jewellery
In 2026, Gina will lead an International Study Tour with the Art Gallery of NSW to Mexico City and Oaxaca, guiding people on a journey through Mexican modernism, the contemporary gallery scene, to traditional craft and artisans.
In 2021 Gina co-founded the sustainable glass studio, Small Impact Studio with internationally renowned glass artist, Scott Chaseling. In 2023, she created the brand OLIO Jewellery for her practice as a silversmith and glass lampworker, OLIO means a miscellaneous collection of things – apt for her passion to mash up materials in a refined and bespoke way. She had her first solo exhibition in 2024 at Retford Park (Bowral). And in 2026, Gina will participate in a Bundanon Residency.
Education + Lecturing
Gina was conferred her Master in Art Administration in 1996. She has presented guest lectures at the Art Gallery of NSW, University of Sydney, the National Art School Sydney, the La Trobe University Melbourne, the National Heritage Board Singapore, and has presented courses in professional practice for artists for the Ateneo Art Gallery’s (University de Manila). She has been a guest judge of Salon de Refuse (2014), the Lester Prize (2023), and JMGA PROFILE (2025), and held a position on the board of SFMOMA Contemporary Extensions (1999-2001).
Contact GINA
Commissions + Conversations
Yes, I am available for commission and contract work. I look forward to starting a conversation with you - to explore how I can bring my years of experience in the arts sector to work for you.
Gina Fairley
PO Box 11 Mittagong NSW, Australia, 2575
