Thanks to CreateSA’s Arts and Culture Grants Program, interdisciplinary visual artist Sue Kneebone was able to bring her deeply researched project to life as the 2025 SALA Feature Artist and subject of the Wakefield Press monograph Sue Kneebone – Unnatural Causes.

Sue’s exhibition, The Last Tide Waiter, was held at Adelaide Central Gallery from July to September 2025, marking a significant milestone in her 25-year career.

The grant enabled Sue to transform five years of international research into an immersive installation exploring the enduring legacies of colonialism across the Indian Ocean. Inspired by her ancestor – a tide waiter in Mauritius in 1874 – the exhibition evoked a customs warehouse where colonial histories resurfaced as uncanny relics.

Mixed-media assemblages, repurposed utilitarian objects, and moving-image works invited audiences to reflect on the complex intersections of trade, migration, and power.

Funding provided resources for a larger studio space, custom gallery construction, and coincided with the production of a monograph published by Wakefield Press. The publication featured essays by leading artists and arts writers, including James Taylor, Nicole Clift, Elle Freak (Assistant Curator of Australian Art, AGSA), and Andrew Purvis (Curator and Director of Adelaide Central Gallery).

'This grant gave me the time and space to realise an ambitious vision,' said Sue. 'It allowed me to create work that connects personal history to global narratives and share it with audiences on a significant platform.'

To find out more about the exhibition, head to the Adelaide Central School of Art website.