Jet, DIRECTOR

Jet (aka Jess) Nikitina-Li is a researcher, artist and creative producer born and raised on Boonwurrung lands, now based in Mparntwe on Arrernte country. Jet’s work brings together research, video, writing and craft to critique and/or connect with place, power and the bizarre. Jet is a co-founder of Way Over There (WOT) Collective, an ARI based in the South-East suburbs of Naarm (areas represent) creating opportunities by and for BIPOC artists and their communities.

Since January, Jet has been based in Nukus - a city in the republic of Karakalpakstan within Uzbekistan.

Jet is part of the inaugural cohort of the Aral School - a transdisciplinary learning community combining local insight with global perspectives to explore new approaches to ecological regeneration in the Aral Sea region.
This region sits amongst the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, and the surrounding Kyzylkum and Aralkum deserts. This region has been intensely impacted by the Soviet Union's diversion of the region's rivers for cotton production, causing the collapse of an ecosystem and its livelihoods.
Joining 22 participants, half local and half international, Jet brings her experience across social and anthropological research, art curation and film production, and community collaboration to this new space. She is surrounded by diverse knowledges, including researchers, makers and artists, with expertise in agriculture, seed-saving, solarpunk, engineering, finance, water governance, and more.

Already 2+ months in, Jet will return in July to embed their learnings and research back into our desert ARI and community.

In the meantime, you may have noticed some familiar faces around WTS! Jet is proud to have Joel, Yul and Waari supporting while she's away and excited for the new magic they bring to the space.

For anything WTS related during this time, you can still reach out here or wts@wts.org.au. For anything desert dreaming related, questions or ideas or thoughts, you're welcome to reach out to Jet directly jet@wts.org.au.

Pictured: Jet at Dzhanpik-kala, an ancient fortress of Khorezm between Nukus and Urgench. The earliest structures at this site date back to the 4th century BCE - 1st century CE.

Yul, Waari, Joel INTERIM TEAM

There have been some staff changes for 2026 at Watch This Space.

Earlier this year, Jet was accepted into a 6-month postgrad program in Uzbekistan, that brings interdisciplinary scholars and design thinkers together to create projects that support regenerative change in the region. Thankfully, Jet has promised to be back on deck in late June! It's obviously hard for us to have Jet leave for this period, but it's an incredible program and an exciting opportunity for them.

The Board has been making plans to fill this staffing gap in Jet's absence, hoping to not let this impact our program for 2026. It was tricky finding a team at such short notice and for only a few months while Jet's away, filling the different skills and experience that they hold.

We're pleased to share that Yul, Waari and Joel will be working in a casual capacity over the next few months to carry things along until Jet is back in June.

• Yul Scarf, Creative Producer (exhibitions, projects) - Yul is stepping into the Creative Producer role after working previously as a Project and Admin Support Officer at WTS. Yul is a multidisciplinary artist, whose work is driven by radical political change and uses their practice to materialise queer politics, solidarity and humour, often based upon collaborative approaches.
• Waari, Creative Producer (residencies, marketing) - Waari is an interdisciplinary artist working with sound and print. He is a proud descendant of the Waanyi and Kalkutungu peoples of so-called Australia, and of the Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Manu, and Te Ātiawa iwi of Taranaki, Aotearoa (so-called New Zealand). His practice asserts Country, language, and the body as living archives, carrying knowledge forward despite colonial disruption. His work engages memory, movement, and futurity in sites shaped by extraction and ongoing occupation. Across multiple Countries, WAARI threads his story through listening, refusal, and enduring presence. We're excited to have WAARI in this role, building off his experience undertaking a WTS residency last year and the connections that came from it.
• Joel Steller, Acting Director - Joel was previously the treasurer of WTS, and was able to step into this role part time. He has worked with a wide range of non-profits, creative initiatives and Aboriginal community controlled organisations to support them to create sustainable impact. He brings experience in nonprofit management, outcomes measurement, community development and program design.

They'll be working in the space from Tuesdays to Fridays - come drop in and say hi!