Zena Cumpston is a Barkandji woman with family connection to Broken Hill and Menindee in western New South Wales. She currently lives in Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri people with her partner and two young boys. Zena is a researcher and also regularly works as a writer, curator and consultant. Most recently Zena produced a free booklet exploring Indigenous plant use that has been used widely by schools and community groups. In 2021 she curated the show Emu Sky for Science Gallery Melbourne (closing July 2022), exploring Aboriginal knowledge and bringing together many community members to share their stories, research, knowledge and art works. She also spent much of 2021 working on the Australian State of the Environment Report as a co-author, writing across several chapters. Zena is passionate about truth-telling and undertaking projects that directly benefit and provide opportunities for her Aboriginal community. In her spare time she is a basket weaver and committed plant lover. In 2022 her book Plants, written together with Wiradjuri academic Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher and Professor Lesley Head, will be published by Thames and Hudson as part of the First Knowledges series. In 2023 she will co-curate a show with her sister Nici for Bunjil Place Gallery, gathering together several exciting established and emerging Barkandji/Barkindji and Ngiyampa artists and storytellers.
Zena Cumpston is a Barkandji woman with family connection to Broken Hill and Menindee in western New South Wales. She currently lives in Melbourne on the lands of the Wurundjeri people with her partner and two young boys. Zena is a researcher and also regularly works as a writer, curator and consultant. Most recently Zena produced a free booklet exploring Indigenous plant use that has been used widely by schools and community groups. In 2021 she curated the show Emu Sky for Science Gallery Melbourne (closing July 2022), exploring Aboriginal knowledge and bringing together many community members to share their stories, research, knowledge and art works. She also spent much of 2021 working on the Australian State of the Environment Report as a co-author, writing across several chapters. Zena is passionate about truth-telling and undertaking projects that directly benefit and provide opportunities for her Aboriginal community. In her spare time she is a basket weaver and committed plant lover. In 2022 her book Plants, written together with Wiradjuri academic Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher and Professor Lesley Head, will be published by Thames and Hudson as part of the First Knowledges series. In 2023 she will co-curate a show with her sister Nici for Bunjil Place Gallery, gathering together several exciting established and emerging Barkandji/Barkindji and Ngiyampa artists and storytellers.