PREVIEW | The 2026 Beechworth Biennale

Nina Machielse Hunt is the human powerhouse behind the Beechworth Biennale and many other cultural events in this nationally listed, heritage town in the far north-east of Victoria. These creative initiatives draw in tourists of all ages despite, or I suspect because, they are uncompromising in their artistic integrity and creative risk taking.

The Beechworth Biennale Committee Inc. from left, Beverley Smith, Tracey Newton, Terry Batt, Nina Machielse Hunt, Marcus Foley, Lesley Milne and Inga Hanover. Photograph by Marc Bongers.

On a research trip to see the disused Mayday Hills Asylum, where Mike Parr will create his video projection on the exterior of the Birches building for the upcoming 2026 Beechworth Biennale, I had the opportunity to meet with Nina Machielse Hunt. I asked her about the event’s genesis.

“During the COVID-19 lockdowns I home-schooled my children on our farm just outside town. We were fortunate to have time to dream in our regional, spacious bubble, and I decided to sink my savings of $10,000 into establishing a national art prize in the town. The whole town is ripe with creative potential and atmosphere. In 2022 I invited artists to propose site-specific works for one of the unique, non-traditional locations uncovered for the Beechworth Contemporary Art Award. Artists Kate Just from Melbourne and Nuha Saad from Sydney, were also invited. Curator Sebastian Goldspink travelled to judge the works, subsequently awarding the prize to what he described as a ‘world class’ installation Swell, by regional artist Susie Losch from Gundowring.”

Other artist in 2022 were Anthony Sawrey, Bruce Armstrong, Deborah Kelly, Jodie L. Kipps, Harrie Fasher, Liam Denny and Yandell Walton. The Beechworth Contemporary Art Award morphed into the inaugural 2024 Beechworth Biennale.

Now, on the cusp of the 2026 Beechworth Biennale, I asked Machielse Hunt what the event will comprise, in addition to Mike Parr’s video projection. She explained, “I’m really thrilled that Myles Russell-Cook, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, accepted my offer to be this year’s special guest….Dr Blair French, who moved to our region from Sydney to take up the directorship of the Murray Art Museum Albury, has made himself professionally accessible, really like an art world sounding board for me.”  French had apparently attended the 2024 Beechworth Biennale having been attracted by the calibre of artists involved, including Tina Havelock-Stevens, Wendy Yu and the Warlukurlangu Aboriginal Artists from Yuendumu.

Deborah Halpern, 2026 Beechworth Biennale artist

This year’s biennale includes the Ikuntji Artists from Haasts Bluff and the Tennant Creek Brio artists. Other exhibitors, who will again occupy a variety of sites in and around the town, include Zanny Begg, Joe Wilson & Chanelle Collier, Drez, Deborah Halpern, Louise Paramor, Jen Valender, Locust Jones, Susie Losch, and collaborative team Victoria Cooper, Doug Spowart, Tegan Nash Ollett and Bree Marchbank.

Machielse Hunt believes what makes the Beechworth Biennale unique is that it celebrates the regional town with its population of just 3,000, whilst showcasing contemporary ideas, practices and processes that are usually experienced in larger urban centres. It presents national art stars on the same platform as emerging artists from regional and remote regions.

Locust Jones, 2026 Beechworth Biennale Artist

Not one to sit idle, Machielse Hunt also owns and operates Beechworth Contemporary, a commercial art gallery in the centre of town. She also maintains a painting practice and most recently presented a solo exhibition at Hyphen—Wodonga Library Gallery.

Later, walking through the streets of Beechworth, Machielse Hunt pointed out derelict shops and cafes, an old ballroom and a theatre, all potential art sites, just as they often are in Kassel and Munster for the former’s documenta and the latter’s Skulptur Projekte. Art is often best experienced in small towns and cities where most sites can be visited on foot, and chance meetings and opportunities realised in local cafes, wine bars, and breweries—of which Beechworth has many. Stromness, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, has a similar population (3,000 to 5,000 depending on the main tourist seasons), and cultural tourists arrive from all over the world to see its legendary Pier Arts Centre, with its mix of local and international artworks and frequent off-site projects. As a recent convert to Beechworth, I for one would love to help build future cultural and tourist links between Stromness and the Beechworth Biennale.

“I’m sure you’d agree,” Machielse Hunt concludes, “making, looking, and talking about good art and ideas allows some of life’s contemporary events and big questions to be raised and potentially answered. The offer of connection and hope is presented. And we all need a bit more of both, right now.” 

Exhibition
2026 Beechworth Biennale
7–9 March 2026
Beechworth, Victoria

Images courtesy of the artists and Beechworth Biennale Committee Inc.

Dr Peter Hill is a Glasgow-born artist, writer, and independent curator who now lives in Victoria.