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After a rigorous nation-wide and international search, Georgie Meagher has been appointed Next Wave's incoming Artistic Director and co-CEO. Commencing 7 September, 2014, Meagher will relocate to Melbourne from Sydney for the role and comes with a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion cultivated from her previous roles at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Performance Space at Carriageworks and artist-run-initiative Firstdraft.
"The Board were immensely impressed by the calibre of applications, which came from all over Australia and -- for the first time -- from overseas, a resounding marker of the strength of Next Wave," said Janenne Willis, Next Wave Chair.
"Georgie's inventive artistic vision, collaborative leadership style and strategic foresight into the independent arts in Australia and abroad made her a stand-out applicant.
"Together we are set to build on Next Wave's renowned capacity to develop and present bold, ambitious and risky new work from young emerging artists. On behalf of everyone at Next Wave, I'd like to congratulate Georgie on securing her dream job!"
"I'm thrilled to be joining Next Wave," said incoming Artistic Director and co-CEO, Georgie Meagher. "Next Wave has a fantastic reputation globally and is an incredibly important organisation for emerging artists, writers and curators in Australia.
"I have witnessed many formidable artists -- including many of my peers, colleagues and friends -- having formative experiences while developing work with Next Wave and I am both humbled and wildly excited to be taking on this role," she said.
Billed as Australia's biennial festival of emerging artists and ideas, Next Wave Festival is a city-wide, month-long celebration of cutting-edge arts and culture from around Australia and the globe. In 2014, Next Wave celebrated 30th anniversary with a tightly curated selection of the most ambitious, risky and surprising new art by 238 artists hand-picked by Emily Sexton and her team.
In October, Meagher and her team at Next Wave will announce the provocation for the 2016 Next Wave Festival and open applications for its flagship artist development program KICKSTART, which will run throughout 2015 under Meagher's leadership.
