Michelle Antoinette
Dr Michelle Antoinette is Associate Professor in Art History and Theory at Monash University, Naarm/Melbourne. She lives and works on the lands of the Indigenous Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Her research, teaching and writing focuses on modern and contemporary Asian art histories, situated within practices of decolonising art’s histories. Her Asia interests extend beyond Asia’s geographical borders to encompass the art of Asian diasporas and their contributions to national and transnational art histories, including Asian-Australian artists. She is particularly focused on art histories connected to Southeast Asia, on which she has published widely. Michelle has held major Australian Research Council awards researching developments in contemporary Asian art and curating. From 2025, she is a Chief Investigator for the ARC team project ‘Care and Repair: Rethinking Contemporary Curation for Conditions of Crisis’ (DP240102206), exploring curatorial practices across Southeast Asia and Australia which offer new models for working more equitably and sustainably into the future. Among her significant scholarly publications are Reworlding Art History: Encounters with Contemporary Southeast Asian Art after 1990 (Brill | Rodopi) and with Caroline Turner, Contemporary Asian Art and Exhibitions: Connectivities and World-making (ANU Press). In 2019, she co-curated the exhibition Shaping Geographies: Art, Woman, Southeast Asia, and in 2024, was Advisor for the exhibition The Charge That Binds at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. From 2023-2025, Michelle also co-convenes the Australasian Network for Asian Art (an4aa).