Home Participants 25th Biennale of Sydney (2026) John Harvey & Walter Waia
John Harvey & Walter Waia

John Harvey
Born & Lives in:
Australia (Kalaw Kawaw Ya / Saibai Island, Torres Strait)
Walter Waia
Born & Lives in:
Australia (Kalaw Kawaw Ya / Saibai Island, Torres Strait)


John Harvey

Walter Waia
John Harvey and Walter Waia are Torres Strait Islander artists from Saibai Island whose collaboration weaves together contemporary practice and cultural knowledge grounded in Saibai Island world view. Working across mediums including film, theatre, installation, choreography, and music, their work explores memory, belonging, and home against a backdrop of rising sea levels and diasporic identity. Their acclaimed short film, Katele (Mudskipper) (2022), exemplifies their voice: lyrical; grounded, and resonant in deep cultural authority. They create contemporary mythologies that are inseparable from culture, language, island homeland, and community – art that embodies a living continuum of ancestral knowledge. At the Biennale of Sydney, their work will stand as both testimony and invitation.