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Bonus Podcast Episode: Megan Cope

Date
Tuesday 15 July, 2025
Portrait of artist Quandamooka artist Megan Cope, image courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Meeanjin/Brisbane.

Portrait of Megan Cope, image courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Meeanjin/Brisbane.

Photographer: Zan Wimberley

Megan Cope is a Quandamooka artist from Moreton Bay/North Stradbroke Island in South East Queensland. Her site-specific sculptural installations, public art practice and paintings investigate issues relating to colonial histories, the environment and mapping practices.

In this conversation with Newcastle Art Gallery’s Head of Curatorial and Exhibitions, Miriam Kelly, Megan Cope discusses her living sculptures that draw on ancestral technologies and seek to heal saltwater environments. She also delves into the historical and ecological importance of oysters.

This conversation was captured live at the Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House during the New Annual Festival in Newcastle in September 2024. Presented as a temporary pavilion on the Honeysuckle Marina, Ngumpi Kinyingarra Oyster House hosted workshops, performances, talks, and even an oyster shucking competition! Thanks to an enthusiastic group of oyster shuckers from the community, this 'Scrub Club' saw over 4,875 oysters cleaned for use in a future work of art by Megan Cope.

Find 'Conversations from the Collection' on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.

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