Din Heagney is a writer, editor and researcher in art and design culture.
He lives and works around Narrm, Oceania, on the unceded traditional lands and waters of the Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung) and Wurundjeri first nations.
A BIT ABOUT ME…
I was born in the leafy outer burbs of Melbourne, Australia, and named after my grandfather ‘Dinny’ who played for Geelong Football Club. We moved to Ararat and then Bendigo, where my parents ran pubs, and I ran amuck. After high school, I studied journalism at RMIT University before working as a radio journalist, producer and magazine editor. My passion for art and design led me to strike out on my own, so I began to travel and work independently in the USA, Germany, Italy, Greece and China.
After returning to Australia, I completed a Master of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts, and refocused my practice on creative research and education. Since then, I’ve developed and delivered courses in undergraduate and postgraduate research, teaching hundreds of talented students from around the world. I also maintain a collaborative practice with artists, writers and academics in producing exhibitions and publications.
SOME RECENT WORK…
starting a PhD in Design at RMIT School of Design (2023–)
research assistance for Prof Jules Moloney, College of Design and Social Context (RMIT University, 2022–23)
consulting and editing for Garden Gathered by Helen Leighton (The Flower Press, 2022–23)
consulting, development and interviewing for Flash Forward – featuring 80 new visual art and music commissions (Creative Laneways, City of Melbourne, 2020-22)
research, development and photography for artist Kelly Koumalatsos (Museums Victoria Publishing, 2019-21)
online course material for Spectrum: An Exploration in Colour (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2021)
research and writing for Female Computers Les Calculatrices (Lily Hibberd, NIRIN: 22nd Biennale of Sydney, 2020)
lecture on Post-Truth In Art (Writing & Concepts x Channels Festival, Melbourne, 2019)
research and development for ParraGirls by Lily Hibberd with Bonney Djuric (New South Press, Sydney, 2019)
book design and copyediting for The Place That Had No Heart: a memoir by Tony Harold Nicholas (Parramatta Female Factory Precinct, Sydney, 2019)
research, development and copyediting for Associations: Creative Practice & Research edited by James Oliver (Melbourne University Press Academic, 2018)
editing for academic staff and PhD candidates (Monash MADA, RMIT, UOM, 2018–ongoing)
CLIENTS
Artists and designers
Simone LeAmon
Lily Hibberd
Louise Whelan
Ash Keating
Selby Ginn
Pandarosa
Helen Leighton
Galleries + Museums
National Gallery of Australia (NGA)
National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)
Benalla Art Gallery
West Space
Kings ARI
Museums Victoria
Publishers + Magazines
Melbourne University Press Academic
Thames & Hudson Australia
Mer Paper Kunsthalle
Artlink: Australia & Asia Pacific
Art 21 Magazine
The Art Life
un Projects
Cyclops Press
Victorian Initiative of Artists Network
Monument Magazine
Nylon Aust/NZ
Niche Media
The Flower Press
Organisations
Australia Council for the Arts (Venice Biennale)
National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
Creative Victoria
City of Melbourne
Biennale of Sydney
Writing & Concepts
Channels Festival – International Biennale of Video Art
Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA)
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
Midsumma Festival
Platform Artists Group
Higher Education
Monash University Art, Design + Architecture (MADA)
RMIT University School of Design
RMIT University School of Architecture & Urban Design