Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis is a proud Pitta Pitta woman and artist living on Kulin Land. Her work challenges colonial image-making practices and interrogates the biases embedded within different imaging technologies. Spanning photography, moving image and spoken word, her practice is informed by family stories, histories and institutional archival research.
Romanis holds a PhD from Monash University in the Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture. In 2025, she was the winner of the Multimedia Category at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (Telstra NATSIAA), held in Darwin.
Recently, her first major acquisitive commission as part of the ‘FUTURE COUNTRY, Country Road x First Nations Commissions 2026’ showed at the National Gallery of Victoria. She was also part of ‘Primavera: Young Australian Artists 2026’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.
Romanis is a studio resident at Gertrude Contemporary.
Contact: jucromanis@gmail.com
Education:
2021—2025: PhD (Fine Art), Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab, Monash University.
2020: Honours (Photography), RMIT University.
2017—2019: Bachelor of Arts (Photography), RMIT University.
Exhibitions (Solo Shows):
2025: ‘(Dis)connected to Country: Mapping Archives Through Arts Practice’, PhD exhibition, MADA Gallery, Melbourne.2024: ‘(Dis)connected to Country’ Hillvale Gallery, as part of PHOTO2024, Melbourne.
2023: ‘(Dis)connected to Country’ curated by Angela Connor, The Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh), Melbourne.
Exhibitions (Group Shows):
2026: ‘Primavera 2026: Young Australian Artists’, curated by Antares Wells. Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.2026: ‘My Blood Sings Old Songs’, curated by Maya Hodge. Latrobe Art Institue, Bendigo.
2026: ‘FUTURE COUNTRY’ First Nations x Country Road Commissions, curated by Jessica Clarke. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
2025: ‘Fugitives’, curated by Levent Can Kaya, First Draft, Sydney.
2025: ‘Experimental Shorts Screening’, Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, Library at the Doc, Melbourne.
2025: ‘42nd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award’ (Telstra NATSIAA), curated by Kate ten Buuren. MAGNT, Darwin.
2025: ‘Tarnuk-ut baany’ 2025 cohort showcase, curated by Naomi Oakley, Footscray Community Arts, Melbourne.
2025: ‘Refusal / Futurity’ curated by Jody Haines. Platform Arts, Geelong.
2025: ‘counter-sites’ curated by Karl Halliday and Madeleine Sherburn. Photo Access, Canberra.
2023: ‘40th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award’ (Telstra NATSIAA), curated by Bek Raymond. MAGNT, Darwin.
2023: ‘YARN’ (curator), Craft Victoria, Melbourne.
2022: ‘INTERVALS’ curated by João Marco Deloie. Platform Arts, Geelong.
2022: ‘Into the Everywhen’ curated by Eden Fiske and Shahn Stewart, Craft Victoria, Melbourne.
2022: ‘Barreeng Yirramboi’ (artist and co-curated with Wominjeka Djeembana Indigenous Research Lab) MADA Gallery, Monash University Melbourne.
2022: ‘Aeon Resurrection,’ curated by Jake Treacy, Incinerator Gallery, Moonee Ponds.
2022: ‘New Photographers’ PHOTO2022 International Photography Festival, James Makin Gallery, Collingwood.
2022: ‘Still Here, Now’ (artist and co-curated with Tarryn Love and Kelsey Love), Platform Arts, Geelong.
2020: ‘Ars Electronica International Arts and Technology Festival’, Web XR Newcastle Garden, curated by Rewa Wright.
2020: ‘What have you got to lose?’ curated by Janine McGinness-Whyte, Rachinger Gallery, Geelong.
2020: ‘Summer Projects VII’ curated by Dylan Foley, Boom Gallery Geelong.
2019: ‘Sightings and Listenings’ graduate exhibition, RMIT University.
Collections:
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and various private collections.Awards:
2026: Mollie Hollman Award for exceptional PhD thesis, Art, Design and Architecture Faculty, Monash University: Winner.2025: Photo Trophy Community Photo Prize, Hillvale Gallery, Melbourne: Judge
2025: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Multimedia Catergory (Telstra NATSIAA): Winner.
2024: Incinerator Gallery Art Award, Art for Social Change: Finalist.
2023: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (Telstra NATSIAA): Finalist.
2019: Baillot and Balfour Endowment, RMIT University: Winner
2019: Robyn Beeche Award, RMIT University: Finalist.
Professional Work Experience:
2025—Present: Deputy Chair, Melbourne Art Library.2025—Present: Lecturer — Art, Design and Architecture Faculty, Monash University.
2024—Present: Board Member, West Space Gallery.
2024—2025: Board Member, Melbourne Art Library.
2023—2025: Artist Committee Member, West Space.
2022—2025: Research Assistant, Monash University, Australian Research Council funded project ‘Protocols for Indigenous-led creative practice.’ https://www.monash.edu/mada/wominjeka-djeembana/academic-research/protocols-for-indigenous-led-creative-practice
2022: Marrawuddi Arts and Culture Volunteer, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.
2021—2022: Research Assistant, Monash University, Wominjeka Djeembana Research Lab.
2021: Producer, Ngarnga-dha (hearing/listening), Research Symposium, Monash University.
2021: Teaching Associate, Monash University.
2021: Research Assistant, Monash University, ‘Tjanabi’ RISING Festival.
2021: Workshop Facilitator, SIGNAL X This Mob X Aretha Brown.
2021: First Nations Emerging Curator, Geelong Gallery.
Writing:
2025: Holding Photographs and Making Pitta Pitta (2024): A Reflection on (Dis)Connected to Country at Hillvale Gallery, 2024, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art. Volume 25, 2025 - Issue 1.2025: A situated practice: making and reading photographs of place in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, Journal of Visual Art Practice. Co-authored with Peta Clancy, Kirsten Garner Lyttle, Jessica Neath and Melissa Miles.
2024: We Are The Archives Of Our Ancestors, The Fever: Part One, Art + Australia. Co-authored with Peta Clancy and Kirsten Garner Lyttle.
2022: Google Earth is an illusion: how I am using art to explore the problematic nature of western maps and the myth of ‘terra nullius,’ The Conversation.
Select Artist Talks/Guest Lectures:
2026: ‘Future Country’ First Nations x Country Road Commissions, In-conversation with Jessica Clarke and Brook Garu Andrew, National Gallery of Victoria.2024: ‘(Dis)connected to Country’ In-conversation with Peta Clancy, Hillvale Gallery.
2024: ‘Future River’ In-conversation with Peta Clancy, Julie Gough, Jody Haines and Kimba Thompson, Counihan Gallery.
2023: ‘The Reciprocity Factor: Photography, Country and Relationality’ In-conversation with Kirsten Garner Lyttle, Peta Clancy and Melissa Miles, MPavillion.
2023: ‘UNTOLD’ Darwin, In-conversation with Tony Albert, Warraba Weatherall and Troy Casey, curated by Agency Projects.
2023: ‘Art Forum Talks’, Victorian College of the Arts.
2022: ‘Radical Hospitality: Platforming Community’ Panelist with Tarryn Love, Norm Sheehan and Lowell Hunter, Next Wave.
2022: ‘Making the Visible Invisible’ In-conversation with Mark Andrejevic and Mishka Henner, Form X Content PHOTO2022. https://www.monash.edu/muma/public-programs/current/current/form-x-content/semester-1/making-the-visible-invisible
Residencies:
2026—2028: Gertrude Contemporary Studio Resident, Melbourne.2025: Bundanon Artist Residency with Peta Clancy, Kirsten Lyttle and Jessica Neath, Illaroo.
2024: PARADISE AIR, Matsudo Japan.
2022: Melbourne Art Library, Melbourne.
Conferences/symposiums:
2025: ‘Indigenous futures unbound: Reimagining Indigenous futures through knowledge and praxis’ International conference presenter. https://indigenous-futures.org/news-events/ifc-conference-20252025: ‘PHOTOREAL: The crisis of the archive. Photography between analogue and digital.’ We are the Archives of our Ancestors, Keynote alongside Peta Clancy and Kirsten Garner Lyttle. https://maph.org.au/events/981/
2024: ‘Country Informing Practice Symposium’ Monash Art Design and Architecture Faculty, Monash University.
2022: ‘Agency, Country and Place: encounters with photography’ The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) Conference.
2022: ‘Barreeng Yirramboi’, Research Symposium and Exhibition, Monash Art Design and Architecture Faculty, Monash Univeristy.
2022: ‘Conversations with...Extractivism Symposium’, Monash Art Design and Architecture Faculty, Monash University.
2021: ‘Ngarnga-dha (hearing/listening)’, Research Symposium, Monash University.
Funding and scholarships:
2025: Tarnuk-ut baany Artist Development Program, Footscray Community Arts.2021—2024: Australian Government Research Training Program Scholar, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne.
Select Press and Media:
2026: ‘At Primavera 2026, artists do not exhibit the archive – they remake it’, The Conversation.2026:‘The early-career artists making it onto the biggest stages’ ArtsHub.
2026: ‘Gesturing Memory Through Images’ Art Guide.
2026: ‘Mapping Country: Dr Jahkarli Romanis wins 2026 Mollie Holman Award’ Monash University.
2025: ‘NATSIAA 2025’, The Guardian.
2024: ‘(Dis)connected to Country: mapping the intersections of place, identity and family’, ArtsHub.
2023: ‘YARN exhibition’, Triple R Radio Interview.
2023: ‘NATSIAA 2023’, NITV Radio Interview.
2022: ‘Monash University students impress at PHOTO 2022 New Photographers exhibition’ Monash University.
2022: ‘PHOTO 2022: what it means being human’ RMIT University.
2022: ‘New Photographers’ PHOTO2022 International Photography Festival.
2021: ‘New photography from Melbourne and beyond’ Magnum.