Circular Economies Residency: Zali Morgan to join Ilona McGuire in Carnamah

Aug 13

Zali Morgan will be our next Circular Economies resident artist in Carnamah with North Midlands Project!

Morgan will be joining Ilona Mcguire to collaborate on the second stage of their Circular Economies (CE) residency.

CE is a series of socially-engaged residencies in regional Western Australian communities over 2024-25, culminating in an exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) in 2026.

Through this program, artists will immerse themselves in the cultures, landscapes, and economies of regional communities across WA. By engaging deeply with local residents and knowledge systems, they will act as conduits for the flow of ideas, materials and creative interventions. Their projects will address the global and local connections that shape regional life whilst pointing to the possibilities of sustainable and equitable futures. 

CE fosters ongoing connections between visiting artists and local communities, encouraging collaboration and knowledge exchange. Artists will be invited to create responsive, experimental contemporary artworks that engage with the lived realities and perspectives of regional communities. 

The residency projects will culminate in a series of exhibitions and public programs in each host community, mapping the flow of ideas, resources and imagined futures across regional WA. These projects will be brought together in a group exhibition at PICA in October 2026. This group exhibition will invite audiences from regional, metropolitan and international locations to gain a new perspective on our shared resources and explore how we might navigate the challenges of sustainability, equity and environmental and cultural stewardship and its impact on communities into the future. 

About Zali Morgan

Zali Morgan is a Noongar woman with ancestral connections to Whadjuk, Balladong, and Wilman Boodjar, born and raised near Wooditchup on Wardandi Boodjar, now based near Boorloo. Morgan’s multidisciplinary practice spans printmaking, textiles, sculpture, curating, and writing.

Often questioning notions of place, Morgan’s practice engages with decolonial art and discourse within Australia through both figurative and abstract representations of her surroundings and history. In her printmaking, Morgan looks at iconic buildings and spaces within Boorloo and the Noongar region and attempts to uncover their significance for the Noongar people and challenge colonial ideologies tied to Australia's language.

In 2023, Morgan won the City of South Perth Emerging Art Prize and exhibited in REVEALED (2023) at Fremantle Art Centre. Her work has also been shown at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, DADAA, Museum of Art and Culture, Lake Macquarie, Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah, Kent Street Gallery and ArtSource.

She has previously worked at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) as Assistant Curator of Indigenous Art and has curated several exhibitions at various institutions in Western Australia, including Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Fremantle Arts Centre, John Curtin Gallery, Edith Cowan University Gallery, and Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, as well as at the National Art School in Sydney, NSW.

More information about llona McGuire and the first stage of her residency with North Midlands Project.

Photos by Rebecca Mansell.

SPACED will be sharing more information about the Circular Economies artists, host communities and projects as they unfold. Please subscribe to SPACED’s monthly email newsletter, and follow SPACED on Facebook and Instagram.

Circular Economies is produced as a joint partnership by PICA - Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and SPACED. PICA and SPACED thank our community host partners.