Michaela Bear is a Naarm/Melbourne-based writer, curator and retired rhythmic gymnast who sees art as a space for generosity, connection and fostering softer states of being. Michaela has worked on projects in Australia, Vienna, Hawaiʻi and Aotearoa/New Zealand; and written for publications in Australia, New York, London and Hong Kong. Her creative practice is rooted in multi-disciplinary and community-focused approaches that strive to expand exhibition models and create new ways of thinking about the world. She has written for a range of arts publications including ArtAsiaPacific, The Biennial Foundation, the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, VAULT Magazine, Art Guide Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria, and likes to journal her thoughts and learnings everyday. She currently works at the galleries at RMIT University and previously provided curatorial and editorial support for the inaugural 2017 Honolulu Biennial. She also participated in Writing in the Expanded Field IV: Touching Feeling Writing at the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art (2022), the KINGS Artist-Run Emerging Writers’ Program (2018), the BLOCKFREI curatorial residency program in Vienna (2017), and undertook a Curatorial Research Bursary at the University of Queensland Art Museum (2016-17). Recent curatorial projects include Jordan Azcune: Post-Christian Camp at SEVENTH (2021) and A Fragile Beauty (2022-23) at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre. Michaela also sometimes dances in exhibitions and artworks as part of her creative practice.