NOVA'S GLOBAL STORYWORK STUDIO

Working with a local Indigenous artist around the power and potential for art as a story, connecting with an International artist to listen, learning with each other along the way, and expressing what comes up. 

Sort of like a book club, but the book is an international artist, the members are other local community members, and instead of just talking about it… you get to make art? 

Okay… a bit different than a book club then…

About the Project

Nova’s Global Storywork Studio is a new globally focused program that connects a cohort of local artists in Victoria with an international artist to explore the intersections of storytelling, ethics, and artistic practice across cultures.

Through a guided workshop with Lajah, 2 dialogue sessions with the international artist, and creative expression, participants will reflect on how to engage in ethical storywork through art.

 When we say ethical storywork through art, we mean using art as a tool to understand someone’s world deeper, integrating their story through process based art, and through grounding in ethical ways to allow our art to share the story/connection. The program centers relational learning rather than production, inviting participants to deepen their understanding of storytelling as an act of care and connection. 

This program is FREE OF CHARGE to participate in! Space is very limited. 

APPLY HERE

What Artists Will Experience

  • A grounding workshop with Lajah Warren (Nova Arts Hub Founder) on Art as Storywork: Ethical Storytelling through Art.

  • Two virtual dialogue sessions with international artist Dalhan (Kurdish artist based in Istanbul, Turkey).
  • Self-initiated opportunities to connect as a cohort.
  • A final community showcase at Nova Arts Hub to share storywork, reflections, and creative outcomes (if any).

*You do NOT need to consider yourself an artist in order to participate. All levels of experience are welcome! All you need is a desire to be creative, to reflect on the power of cross-cultural stories, and a hope to learn more. 

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Why It Matters

At the core of all of us, is a multitude of stories. So much of what we do as artists is find ways to tell a story through our own mediums. But what happens when we are learning about cultures that may not be our own? About lands that are unfamiliar? What happens when someone’s story challenges our own? Even more, what happens when stories are extracted, rather than held?


Nova’s Global Storywork Studio invites artists to pause, listen, and create in ways that are ethical, grounded, and reciprocal — ensuring that cross-cultural art-making becomes an act of relationship, not extraction. In a time where the world can be at our fingertips through technology, it becomes even more important to ask ourselves to pause and build ethical practices that are not aimed at restricting the ways we share through art, rather expanding the ways art can grow relationships, self-reflection, and collective action. 

How to Get Involved

  • Artists: Apply to be part of this cohort (3 spots available). We prioritize BIPOC or underserved community members for this program. This program requires participation of: the introduction workshop with Lajah (around 3 hours), attendance in 2 dialogue sessions with the international artist (1hr long each)
  • We anticipate starting this program in January 2026.
APPLY HERE