This February, British Council Australia heads to Boorloo/Perth for the Australian Performing Arts Market, 23–27 February 2026. A strategic initiative of Creative Australia, APAM showcases Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand contemporary dance, theatre, music, emerging and experimental arts nationally and internationally. Over five days, artists, producers and presenters come together for pitches, showcases and conversations about the future of touring and exchange. This year we're involved in a number of sessions across the program.
Creativity in the Climate Crisis Tuesday 24 February, 4:30–6:00 PM Facilitated by Creative Climate, supported by British Council
This session brings together artists and advocates working across art, climate and community. Dr Anne Poelina — Indigenous Nyikina Warrwa Australian — will speak about her advocacy for the rights of the Martuwarra River Country. Amir Nizar Zuabi (UK/Palestine) and Fraser Orford (Australia) will share the story behind THE HERDS, a large-scale climate art work that saw life-size puppet animals travel 20,000km from the Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle in 2025. Artists Kaz Therese (Werewolf Creations) and Kelli McCluskey (pvi collective) will also speak to their practice, before the group collectively explores how the sector can deepen its responsibility for care for Country and climate justice.
Roundtable: Doing Business in the UK Friday 27 February, 10:00–11:00 AM
British Council Australia's Country Director Helen Salmon and UK-based Producer and Programmer Dan Kok will lead a discussion on working with the UK. The conversation will cover how to engage with UK presenters and programmers, who is presenting international work and what they're looking for, and ways to begin building relationships with British artists and organisations.
Roundtable: Special Envoy — An Invitation to Artists and Producers Reimagining an Arts Market Friday 27 February, 10:00–11:00 AM
Special Envoy is a peer-led initiative created with APAM in 2023: a space for honest conversation, collective agency and practical action across the international arts ecology. In previous iterations, Special Envoy has matched in-person artists with remote presenters, creating a low-carbon alternative to international travel and enabling artists to step into the presenter role and build meaningful relationships on behalf of themselves and their partner organisations. This roundtable explores where the initiative can go next to enable a future of sustainable practice and equitable exchange in the arts market, hosted by Kelli McCluskey of pvi collective. pvi collective and UK company In Between Time received a British Council Connections Through Culture grant to further develop the Special Envoy project in 2025.
Keynote: Clothilde Bullen OAM Tuesday 24 February, 9:30–10:00 AM
This year's APAM keynote speaker is Clothilde Bullen OAM, alumna of the British Council Accelerate Programme. Grounded in relational cultural and community theory, Clothilde's keynote presents a sustainable and transformative vision for the future of arts and cultural institutions, exploring how new leadership models and cultural sovereignty can reshape the sector and inviting delegates to imagine ways of working that prioritise pragmatic care, authenticity in policy development, and meaningful pathways for new leadership.
Beyond our sessions, British Council Australia will be on the ground throughout APAM, brokering and building connections between UK and Australian delegates.
For more information visit: APAM • Australian Performing Arts Market