First Nations-led arts and cultural projects which deliver long-lasting outcomes for artists and communities across New South Wales are being supported by the latest round of the state's Creative Nations Project Funding program.
The program's 2025/26 round of funding supports eight First Nations-led arts and cultural projects, with $566,981 being share while engaging more than 100 artists and arts workers.
Including survivor-led truth-telling exhibitions, digital mapping and cultural knowledge sharing to activating culturally-safe spaces for storytelling, learning, and connection, the creative initiatives are set to deliver significant impact for First Nations communities across NSW through cultural, social and employment outcomes.
One of the funded projects is Creative Futures - Shaping the Next 50 Years of First Nations Dance, delivered by NAISDA in partnership with BlakDance and Carriageworks, as part of NAISDA's 50th anniversary.
The First Nations-led initiative brings together national and international choreographers, cultural leaders and dancers through residencies, performance, research and a symposium-in-action.
By embedding dialogue within embodied practice, the project is set to test, share and document culturally grounded frameworks which support ethical collaboration, cultural authority and sustainable futures for contemporary Indigenous dance.
NAISDA CEO, Kim Walker, said Creative Futures reflects what NAISDA stands for at fifty; future-focused, collaborative, and guided by cultural authority and protocols.
"It places NAISDA at the centre of a national conversation about the future of First Nations contemporary dance: how it is created, supported and shared with integrity," Ms Walker said.
"This project comes at a pivotal moment, as demand for First Nations dance continues to grow nationally and internationally, while the frameworks guiding ethical collaboration are still evolving.
"By taking these questions out of theory and into the artform itself, Creative Futures invites artists, organisations, companies and audiences to learn together through practice, shaping sustainable pathways for the next fifty years of Contemporary Indigenous Dance."
Three quarters of the successful projects are from NSW's regions, sharing in more than 80 per cent ($454,891) of the total investment.
Create NSW Executive Director, Kerri Glasscock, said: "The Creative Nations program is a clear testament to our Creative Communities policy commitment of First Nations First and putting culture at the heart of NSW."
"The First Nations artists and communities supported to deliver these powerful projects will celebrate the world's oldest continuous storytellers and reveal the power of arts and cultural expression to strengthen communities," Ms Glasscock said.
Applications were independently assessed and recommended against published criteria by the First Nations Arts and Culture Artform Board.
First Nations Arts and Culture Artform Board chair, Dr Bronwyn Bancroft, said she is excited to see the ripple effect of projects for individuals and communities across New South Wales.
"The Creative Nations program delivered by Create NSW and the assessment panel of First Nations representatives for Arts and Culture highlights a flourishing series of projects by amazing Aboriginal creators across many regions in NSW," Dr Bancroft said.
Create NSW's next round of ACFP Project Funding will open in April 2026, with more information available online.
2025/26 Creative Nations Project Funding program recipients
Blak Circle Community Collective
'Creative Futures: Shaping the Next 50 Years of First Nations Dance' celebrating 50 years for NAISDA - NAISDA Dance College
Darky Deaves Art
Dharawal artefact-making workshops for intergenerational knowledge transfer - Gujaga Foundation Ltd
Marella: Voices from the Hidden Institution
'Telling our Stories' Freedom Ride Memorial Project
Wilgabah Cultural Site: Cultural Mapping Pilot Program
Yaala Leadership Program
