Hyphenated Projects is an artist-led network nurturing practice in Asian diasporas.
We focus on supporting artists who operate with the hyphens— culturally, socially and geographically.
Hyphenated Projects 是一個以培育亞裔文化為主導的藝術家網路。成立宗旨在透過活動及探討hyphens的多面性，促進藝術家之間的深度對話和集體空間。
Hyphenated Projects là một hoạt động nuôi dưỡng mạng lưới do nghệ sĩ lãnh đạo ở cộng đồng người châu Á hải ngoại.
ABOUT
Located in a suburban house in Sunshine West, Melbourne, the space supports artists, producers and researchers through an artist residency and development program since 2019. The program prioritises facilitation of supportive and critical conversations about creative diasporic practices in the Asia Pacific, and on stolen lands here in Australia. We evolve our work to facilitate projects that adapt to the shifting needs of our communities.
Hyphenated Projects was founded after presenting a survey exhibition of Asian Australian artists in Victoria at The Substation titled Hyphenated (2018). Since then, we have partnered and collaborated with Due West Arts Festival, Next Wave, Footscray Community Arts, ACMI, Incinerator Gallery, The Substation, fine print Magazine, and Liminal with a range of contemporary and community arts projects. In 2020-2022, we delivered our largest project to date: Hyphenated Biennial, a multi-venue exhibition across Melbourne's West. In 2023, we launched New Hyphens, a 2-year graduate residency and mentorship program. Hyphenated Projects is a winner Creative Australia’s Asia Pacific Arts Awards for Innovation in 2024.
Co-Founders
Image: Nikki Lam(Left) and Phuong Ngo(Right). Photo by Gianna Rizzo
Nikki Lam
Co-Director/Artist-curator
Nikki Lam is an artist-curator and filmmaker based in Naarm/Melbourne and Hong Kong. Working primarily with moving image and text, her work explores memory through contemplation on time, space and impermanence. Nikki’s work has been shown, published and screened widely across Australia and internationally.
With an interest in relational practice, she has been Artistic Director of Channels video art festival, curator at The Substation, alongside many hybrid and leadership roles in the arts. She currently co-runs Slow Burn Books, a publisher and bookshop that circulates independent art publications across Asia-Pacific. Nikki is a PhD (Art) candidate at RMIT University. Her practice-led PhD is about moving images in the Hong Kong Diaspora.
Phuong Ngo
Co-Director/Artist
His practice is concerned with the interpretation of history, memory and place, and how it impacts individual and collective identity. Through an archival process rooted in a conceptual practice, he seeks to find linkages between culture, politics and oral histories and historic events. He holds a PhD from RMIT University and is currently the chair of Un Projects. Phuong is represented by ‘THIS IS NO FANTASY‘ in Melbourne.
IG:@pthngo
How We Work?
We are a network of artists, writers, producers and friends who are committed to working towards a more equitable art world. Sometimes we are interested in complicating diasporic discourse, other times we advocate for community, most of the time we focus on creating small and often invisible changes by supporting each other. And, most of the time, we gather, eat and sing ballads at karaoke.
We have the privilege to work with a lot of talented and dedicated people in our network. While we don’t usually make art collectively, we see facilitation, solidarity and bringing people together as integral collective work. At a glance we are a duo, but we are building towards a collective model that is rhizomically de-centralised.
We are capacity-led and things can be slow at Hyphenated Projects. We work semi-regularly when the work can be remunerated. Working towards equity takes a very long time and most of the work we do is voluntary. We welcome new collaborators who share our values to connect with us.
Support Us
We can’t do this work without the support from our peers and communities. We would like to thank Creative Australia (2025, 2020-2021), Sidney Myer Fund (2022-23), Creative Victoria (2022) and our private supporters for contributing to a more sustainable practice at Hyphenated Projects. If you would like to support our work, please get in touch with us.