Introducing Susan Charlton

Susan Charlton is a Sydney-based exhibition curator, creative producer, writer, editor, publisher and arts entrepreneur, who works with artists and archives, communities and cultures, media and markets. From 2001 until November 2015 Susan worked as Creative Producer at State Records, the NSW State government archives, where she contributed to exhibitions and the archives' media profile. Previously in this role Susan created and edited the groundbreaking Vital Signs magazine and curated important exhibitions based on the archives collection, including [art meets archive], Sydney: Resort of Thieves, In the Realm of the Censors, Natura Morta and Romance and Industry.

Susan was also a member of the cross-cultural exhibition team that realised the In Living Memory exhibition of photographs from the Aborigines Welfare Board, in combination with contemporary images of New South Wales communities by senior Indigenous photographer Mervyn Bishop. As part of the exhibition team, she also travelled with a touring version to 18 NSW communities over a period of two and a half years — from Ballina to Bega, and Newcastle to Broken Hill.

During 2012-2013 Susan was on secondment to the State Library of New South Wales, working as Project Manager, Exhibition, Web and Screen Content. In this role she recorded and edited 150 sound interviews with curators for a suite of exhibition tours on the Library’s new Curio app produced in conjunction with the team who developed the O for the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart. Susan also produced a 20-minute film with Afterglow Films about collectors and collecting for the new Amaze Gallery of SLNSW treasures and collaborated with the Library’s web development team to enhance the exhibition program’s online presence.

Previously Susan worked as an independent creative producer, most notably on hybridlifeforms: Australian new media art in Amsterdam; and d:art 00 showcase of experimental media, presented by dLux media arts in Sydney. Susan’s first major media art project was as Director of the 1989 Attitude Film and Video Event — a month long installation and text-based project she conceptualised, curated and produced, involving 50 artists and 12 venues. She also curated and produced Six of the Best — a 1994 cross-marketing project for Artspace, The Performance Space, First Draft, Australian Centre for Photography, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, and StreetLevel gallery, including Sydney Artbus tours led by performance artist tour guides to 40 Sydney contemporary art galleries.

Susan’s writing and editing skills were refined in the Print Media and Production Department of the Powerhouse Museum from 1990–94. Her work involved writing, editing and production management of the museum's publications and exhibition texts and working on collaborative teams responsible for the museum's exhibition program. Susan has also written freelance stories and reviews for the Sydney Morning Herald, Filmnews, Cinema Papers, RealTime and Art + Text, and written about Australian culture for Singapore arts magazine The Esplanade. Other writing and editing clients have included the Australia Council, ABC New Media, Museum of Sydney, Madhouse Design, furniture designers Caroline Casey and shamburg + alvisse, and the Coca-Cola Quayside corporate museum project. Susan attained her Master of Media Art at the College of Fine Arts in 1995. Throughout the 1980s she worked as a film distributor, programmer and publicist for the Sydney Filmmakers’ Co-operative, Australian Film Institute and Australian Film Commission.