Paula Do Prado, South Crossing, 2026

Paula do Prado is a visual artist, researcher and creative workshop facilitator working with various forms of tejido (weaving) on the sovereign lands of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people. Born in Uruguay on the lands of the Charrúa Nation, she migrated to Australia in the mid-1980s. Her practice surfaces the intersections of her West African Bantu-Kongo, Iberian and Charrúa ancestral lineages, anchored in the Abya-Yala concepts of cuerpo-territorio-espiritu (body-land-spirit) and sentipensante (feel-thinking): pathways indivisible from her cultural and spiritual practices, her family, community and beyond-human kin relationships.

Do Prado has exhibited nationally and internationally in significant group exhibitions including the VIMA Cyprus Art Fair, Limassol (2025); Indian Ocean Craft Triennial (IOTA), Perth (2024); Tiwani Contemporary, London (2024, 2025); Textile Biennial Rijswijk, The Netherlands (2019); Bankstown Biennale: Sub Terrains, Bankstown (2022); and 4A Centre for Contemporary Art, Sydney (2023). Her work has also been presented as part of the 1st and 5th Tamworth Textile Triennial touring exhibition. In addition to her own practice, do Prado works as an artist in community, including previously with Spinifex Hill Studio Artists in Port Hedland and currently with the GUL Collective, part of the Multicultural Women's Hub, a programme initiative of Arts and Cultural Exchange (ACE), Parramatta.

Do Prado holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, First Class Honours (Textiles) and a Master of Fine Arts (Research) from the University of New South Wales, and has recently completed a practice-led PhD at the University of Sydney. She is a member of the Sydney Indigenous Research Network and the Sydney Environment Institute. Do Prado has been selected for the 2026 annual co-commission between the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Artspace as part of the Contemporary Projects series, which supports an artist or collective from Artspace’s Studio Program to develop a new work for presentation at the Art Gallery. As a result of this award, her residency at Artspace has been extended to two years.