Sydney Festival’s new Festival Commons program is a ten-day immersion behind the scenes of the Festival as it happens, for emerging Indigenous, Black and People of Colour creators, curators and cultural conveners.
The pilot program includes masterclasses, talks, workshops, roundtables, meetings with top international and local artists and makers, and, of course, field trips to Festival shows.
The Commons program will create a supportive, ongoing community of artists and arts workers, where culturally diverse leaders can come together, share expertise, build solidarities new and existing, and design alternate futures through festival-making.
It’s designed to pass the microphone to, and support the ascendance of, the next wave of curators and cultural conveners, supercharging a new generation of festival-makers across Australia and Asia.
As Sydney Festival Artistic Associate Nithya Nagarajan puts it, Festival Commons is “a structural intervention for people who are done with waiting for permission…who are already leading, already convening community”.
The cohort of six people comprises arts-makers who build from lived experience and community knowledge, and create programs that centre joy, resilience and even rage.
The 2026 cohort spans street dancers, DJs, curators and programmers, presenters and producers, publishers and provocateurs. For its inaugural year, Festival Commons invites broadcaster, author and presenter Bianca Hunt, Bengali-Australian DJ and TV creator Munasib Hamid, street dancer and co-Chair of Cypher Culture Dylan Goh, and screen producer and community convener Chidiebube Uba. Coming from overseas for the final two placements is New Delhi editor and critic Mithran R. T. Samuel and Bangaldeshi DJ and musician Hasib Mahmud.
The cohort will immerse themselves in the Festival to build lasting connections, experience how a festival works from the inside, and develop their own ideas for future projects and programming.
Read more about the members of the inaugural 2026 cohort below.
NSW Participants
Bianca Hunt (Sydney, NSW)
Bianca Hunt is a proud Kamilaroi, Barkindji, Ballardong and Whadjuk woman, curator, presenter and media leader. She is the founder of Agency Blak, a creative agency championing First Nations excellence across art, culture and media. Bianca has built a high-profile career as a television presenter, festival host and cultural strategist, including work on NITV’s Over the Black Dot and collaborations with major institutions and brands. Through Agency Blak, she has developed campaigns that ensure First Nations voices are sovereign and celebrated, while mentoring the next generation of Blak leaders. Her work combines cultural care, innovation and unapologetic visibility to reimagine the future of festivals and storytelling in Australia.
Chidiebube Uba (Sydney, NSW)
Chidiebube Uba is an Igbo-Nigerian producer and curator whose practice spans screen, multidisciplinary programming and cultural strategy. She has delivered projects with organisations including Arts & Cultural Exchange and Powerhouse Museum, and is known for community-driven works such as Black Babe Social and Meet Me at the Table. These projects merge art, food, film and performance to cultivate belonging and dialogue. Chidiebube’s approach disrupts the distance between artist and audience, producing cultural gatherings that are both challenging and deeply communal.
Dylan Goh (Sydney, NSW)
Dylan Goh is a street dancer, cultural organiser and producer connecting experimental and street dance communities across Sydney and Seoul. Founder of Palette Session Australia and Sydney City W_acking, Dylan has curated over 200 freestyle jams, building platforms for queer, youth and CALD dancers to lead and exchange. His practice, rooted in punking/waacking and its radical queer histories, is both local and transnational. With roles at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Canterbury-Bankstown Council and as an advisor to Create NSW and Cypher Culture, Dylan brings sharp curatorial vision, lived community practice and a commitment to embedding grassroots voices in festivals.
Munasib Hamid (Sydney, NSW)
Munasib Hamid is a Bengali-Australian DJ, curator and storyteller whose work moves between festivals, screen, radio and global club culture. She is a co-founder of the South Asian collective Kerfew, creator of the acclaimed ABC & Screen Australia project Westerners, and a national broadcaster on CADA and triple j. Her curatorial projects include Spice Trail at the Sydney Opera House, programming for Art Gallery of NSW, and debuting Mixmag Lab in Dhaka, alongside performances at Splendour in the Grass and international stages across South Asia. Munasib is widely recognised for her ability to translate diasporic experience into cultural architecture, building spaces that reflect lived communities with joy, disruption and radical invitation.
International Participants
Hasib Mahmud (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Co-founder of Bhai Bhai Soundsystem, Hasib Mahmud is transforming Bangladesh’s underground electronic scene into a globally connected cultural movement. His work with platforms such as Boiler Room and Mixmag has placed Dhaka’s voices on the international stage, while his local projects continue to create spaces of safety, joy and solidarity. With a background spanning music, production design and mentorship, Hasib nurtures emerging artists, builds resilient communities and forges connections across South Asia. His practice reimagines dancefloors as commons, where cultural expression becomes a form of resistance and collective care.
Mithran R. T. Samuel (New Delhi, India)
Mithran R. T. Samuel is a Dalit cultural producer, researcher and programmer working across underground hip-hop, independent publishing and public engagement. His practice is rooted in liberation theology, anti-caste thought and nightlife as a site for solidarity. From managing India’s first trans rapper to commissioning the Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF, Mithran has built platforms that amplify overlooked voices with rigour and flair. Through radio, residencies and DIY festivals, his work insists on accessibility and intellectual provocation as strategies for systemic change.
Festival Commons is facilitated in collaboration with Encounter Theatre, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, Blacktown Arts and funding partner Creative Australia.
