About
OpenField is a new multidisciplinary arts festival to be held every two years in the town of Berry NSW. The inaugural festival was June 22-25 2023, a largely free event that showcased contemporary art in and around the town in unique non-museum venues, including halls, community spaces and natural reserves. The festival program also included performances, talks, live music and a cinema night. The next festival will occur in June 2025, adhering to a similar format within the town of Berry.
Announcing 2025 festival dates: June 13-15
OpenField creates a place where the local community can meet, connect with each other and engage with the arts. The cohesive blend of regional and visiting artists, alongside Indigenous artists, will provide lasting arts infrastructure that will continue to foster connections, collaborations and opportunities in this area.
Attendees have a map highlighting the exhibition sites as they walk around town, as well as a program of events, performances to attend and amenities, services and partnering town businesses.
The program is assembled by a Curatorium composed of local creatives and contracted curators. New works are commissioned for the festival, alongside existing works that are loaned from galleries and artists, showcasing accessible, through-provoking Australian art.
OpenField is committed to presenting an event that is accessible to people with disabilities and will be held predominantly in accessible venues managed by Shoalhaven City Council.
OpenField strives also to be a zero-waste event.
OPENFIELD COMMITTEE
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Lenka Kripac
CO-CHAIR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Lenka is a singer/songwriter with her own record label, but also spent many years acting in Australian film, theatre and television. She has a BFA from COFA and has always maintained a passion for visual arts. With OpenField, Lenka hopes to revitalise arts infrastructure in Berry, a beloved area she has come to call home.
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Amelia Ramsden
CO-CHAIR AND FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Amelia has worked in the arts for over 15 years for a range or organisations including the Biennale of Sydney, Historic Houses Trust (now Sydney Living Museums) and Object (now Australian Design Centre). She has a BA from Sydney Uni, and a Master of Arts Administration from COFA. Amelia has a passion for projects that spark engagement in the arts for new audiences, particularly children, and is excited to be a part of creating this experience for people in Berry with OpenField.
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Anne Slater
TREASURER
Originally from France, Anne has a BA in European Business Administration and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PWC in London. She then moved to Sydney just before the Olympics to enjoy the games… & the lifestyle - sun, beach & fun.
Anne started her consulting business nearly 20 years ago as she’s passionate about helping entrepreneurs and small businesses with accounting software and getting grants to develop their business.
And of course, she loves mingling with people while enjoying all types of art which is why she has recently joined the team behind the Inner West Film Festival in Sydney as well as the OpenField Art Festival.
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Fleur Townley
PR MANAGER
Fleur has over 25 years working in communications, public relations, fundraising, events, primarily in the non-profit and corporate responsibility sectors. She is now Director of Lanham Media, a communications agency that specifically works with for-purpose clients. Fleur has a Masters of Social Development, a Bachelor of Commerce/Marketing and a Diploma of Management. She previously managed the ING Foundation and ING Direct’s sustainability and community programs, as well as working for organisations such as Doctors Without Borders, United Way and UN Women.
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James Gulliver Hancock
OPENFIELD MEMBER AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER
James is an internationally renowned artist and illustrator. His obsession with re-imaging his world has seen him work for major print, TV and music publishing releases including: Coca-Cola, Ford Motors, Herman Miller, Paypal/Ebay, Caterpiller, The New York Times and Simon&Schuster. He has participated in projects in the USA the UK, Indonesia, Austria, Germany, France and Australia, taking his whimsical perception around the world.
James designed the OpenField logo, which reflects the shapes of our local agricultural and natural landscape.
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Zar Bingham
OPENFIELD MEMBER AND ADMINISATRION
Zar has 30 years experience in hospitality and also more recently co-ordinating large street festivals in Crows Nest and Leichhardt.
She's also an administrative contractor and is passionate about spreadsheets.
She's looking forward to assisting with bringing this new arts festival to Berry and the Shoalhaven.
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Odetta de la Vega
OPENFIELD MEMBER AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Odetta de la Vega is a seasoned project and operations manager with extensive experience across a diverse range of arts and creative ventures. She has successfully overseen site installation and dressing for large-scale outdoor music festivals, operations for high-caliber international classical music series, community arts projects, and independent documentary film production. Odetta’s strong administrative skills have also been instrumental in managing a multi-venue coworking business, as well as a project manager for partnerships at TEDx Sydney. Her hands-on approach and rich background make her a dynamic force in the creative industry.
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Andrea Christie-David
SECRETARY
Andrea Christie-David is an award-winning lawyer and entrepreneur who has a passion for achieving equality and justice for all members of our community whilst also engaging in social causes any chance she gets.
In 2013 Andrea was recognised as ‘Woman Lawyer of the Year in a Community Organisation’ by the Women Lawyers Association of NSW. In 2019 Andrea was a finalist in the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards in the category of ‘Emerging Female Entrepreneur’. Andrea is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws, Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice and a Master of International Law. She recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Educational Studies, is a solicitor admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and has taught law at many leading Australian Universities.
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Julie Ward
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
Julie has had a career spanning four decades in the television industry.
A specialist in large scale event TV, her credits as Executive Producer have been diverse and include formats like The Voice, Australian Ninja Warrior, Masterchef to name a few.
In addition, events such as FireFight Australia, ARIA Awards, AACTA Awards, Australian Day Live and Australian of the Year have combined her skills in leading large creative and technical teams in event and television broadcast.
She has a passion for start up projects, figuring out the architecture and DNA, the brand, the voice, the audience.
With OpenField, Julie is excited to support a new project envisioned and brought to fruition by a dynamic group of women.
OPENFIELD CURATORIUM
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Lenka Kripac
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND CURATORIUM MEMBER
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Amelia Ramsden
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR AND CURATORIUM MEMBER
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James Gulliver Hancock
OPENFIELD AND CURATORIUM MEMBER
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Amanda Jane Reynolds
CURATORIUM MEMBER - CONTRACTED
Amanda works with southeastern cultural traditions, knowledge, and histories.
A cloak-maker, multimedia and ephemeral artist, curator and storyteller, her practice focuses on transforming public spaces of colonial dominance using collaborative and community empowerment models. Her family connections include Dharug and Yuin heritage, and she identifies primarily as Guringai, focusing on her responsibilities around sacred headlands and songlines in north Sydney, northern beaches and Sydney Harbour.
Reynolds recently hosted a NAIDOC program ‘Honouring our Grandmother Tree’ at the Australian Museum, 12 and 13 July 2024. She is currently an independent Aboriginal community representative for the NSW government Me-Mel (Goat Island) Transfer Committee.
Reynolds has created a number of significant collaborative works including the ‘Living Legacies’ (2021) for Unsettled exhibition at the Australian Museum, Truth in Fire with Tim Georgeson (2020) at the Australian Centre for Photography, ‘Grandmother Lore’ (2019) at the Tarnanthi Festival, Ngawiya Maan (we take to give) with Djaadjawan Dancers and Illawarra Flame Trees (2018), and Barangaroo Ngangamay with Genevieve Grieves and others (2017). In 2010, Reynolds established Stella Stories, an independent curatorial and creative arts business specialising in community and heritage site collaborations.
Reynolds has held curatorial positions in various cultural institutions, including the National Museum of Australia, Australian War Memorial, Australian Museum, and Museum Victoria. She authored Keeping Culture: Aboriginal Tasmania and has collaborated on projects such as Garrigarrang: Sea Country and the international multi-award-winning First Peoples exhibition at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
Reynolds facilitated OpenField’s First Nations Voices Panel in 2023, and will be our First Nations Curator for the 2025 festival.
Image Credit:
Tumbling Through the Treetops, 2020
Courtesy of Tamara Dean and Michael Reid - SYDNEY + BERLIN