Zena Zada (Cumpston) is a Barkandji woman with Afghan, Irish and English heritage. Zena is a storyteller, manifesting through her work as an artist, writer, researcher, curator and consultant. She is a member of the Birrarung Council in Narrm and has worked extensively as a freelance writer. Zena began sharing her visual art practice in late 2022, forging an exciting new pathway to telegraph and extend her research and writing skills. 

Across 2024/2025 Zena’s artworks were featured as part of the NETS national tour of ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together); The Soils Project at Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands; Lightscape (Royal Botanic Gardens Narrm); DISH (Town Hall Gallery, Narrm), as part of bíal gwiyúŋo (the fire is not yet lighted) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Cultural Medicine: The Art of Indigenous Healing (Medical History Museum, Narrm). In September 2024 she presented her first solo exhibition Return, focussing on plants of place as part of Darebin FUSE Festival (Narrm). Most recently, Zena has been the recipient of various local and international artist residencies and collaborative opportunities focused on First Nations land-based art practices. In 2026 Zena’s work will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at Heide Museum of Modern Art (Narrm) and she is the proud recipient of the 2026 Bandalang Artist Residency at the Australian National University (Kamberri).

“My art making renders me a powerful conduit and feels so different from my other work. I have made the decision to utilise my Mother’s maiden name, Zada, when engaging in my visual storytelling practice.”