Sam Redston
Executive Director
Sam Redston is executive director of MPavilion. The many and varied projects Sam has collaborated on all have a common thread: outstanding creative vision with extraordinary technical and operational challenges—with MPavilion a perfect example. Sam is motivated to deliver outstanding creative concepts using a blend of production, business, logistics and operational skills developed over 20 years in event production and project management roles.
Project highlights over the past 15 years include: MPavilion operations 2014–17; program manager, White Night Melbourne and Ballarat 2017; owner of Flot & Jet, producers of diverse arts projects; director, Creative Production Services 2008–15; major public art installations at Federation Square 2012, 2014–15; Melbourne Fashion Festival parties & public events (various) 2003, 2008–12; Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony; Keating! The Musical 2006 premiere season; production manager/technical director Jack Morton Worldwide 2006–8.
Jen Zielinska
Program Manager
Jen Zielinska is MPavilion’s program manager. Jen has extensive experience in arts management, community engagement, curation and event production.
Originally from London, Jen was the Victoria & Albert Museum’s program manager curating the Friday Late program for two years. Previously, she worked across arts education and community engagement for organisations such as the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Louis Vuitton Arts Project. Jen’s experience in public programming extends from the Tate London’s Late at Tate, the British Museum and ‘PopRally’ at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Since moving to Melbourne, Jen has worked with the National Gallery of Victoria, the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was MPavilion’s associate producer as part of the 2016 season.
Jen holds a BA in Culture, Criticism and Curation at Central Saint Martins in addition to a Foundation Diploma in Fine Art: Contextual Practice.
Vinisha Mulani
Program coordinator
Vinisha Mulani is MPavilion’s program coordinator. She has had experience working across the arts and non-profit sectors in festival programming and production, community cultural development, and grants and fundraising.
Vinisha has worked for organisations and events including the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Centre for Social Impact UWA’s Social Impact Festival, Footscray Community Arts Centre and the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. Before joining the MPavilion team project managed urban activation initiatives in Perth, and assisted in the development of an arts engagement strategy for culturally and linguistically diverse communities across Western Australia.
Vinisha holds a Master of Management degree from University College London in the UK with a dissertation in Design Thinking, Bachelor of Creative Arts and Bachelor of Social Work degrees from the University of Melbourne, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Arts & Community Engagement from the Victorian College of the Arts.
Alexandra Zafiriou
Communications and Development
Alexandra has worked with MPavilion for over a year and brings communications expertise honed in London, where she helped cultural clients in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Alexandra has also been a director at Edelman, a communications firm with a focus on brand marketing, and vice-president of communications at Louise Blouin Media, a leading international art and culture magazine, website and book publisher. At the Louise Blouin Foundation, Alexandra took on the role of development director, and she has also worked at Brunswick Arts, a prominent communications firm specialising in arts PR. Her extensive experience includes work with organisations such as the United Nations, Macquarie Bank, HSBC, ADACH, China’s Ministry of Culture, Christie’s, Venice Biennale, Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, Sharjah Biennial, Design Miami/Basel, PAD Fairs, Stella Art Foundation, Kandinsky Prize, YSL, Chanel, Mont Blanc and Absolut.
Sarah Lynn Rees
Program Consultant
Sarah is a Palawa woman descending from the Plangermaireener and Trawlwoolway people of north-east Tasmania. She is a Charlie Perkins scholar with an MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design from the University of Cambridge where she produced a thesis on Indigenous housing in remote Australian communities. Sarah is interested in the Indigenous design space and is currently working with Jackson Clements Burrows Architects and MPavilion. Sarah also sits on EmAGN, the AIA Editorial Committee, the National Trust Landscape Reference Group, the National Trust Aboriginal Advisory Group and is a director of Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria. Sarah is MPavilion’s program consultant.
Etta Curry
Operations Manager
With nearly a decade of experience in the events industry, Etta has established herself as an integral role in many of Melbourne’s most celebrated events, including: VMAFF, MSFW, Public Art Biennial, Royal Melbourne Show, Melbourne Racing Club, as well as multitude of private and brand events. Etta has been with MPavilion since its inaugural year in 2014, and is MPavilion’s operation manager.
Alan Weedon
Digital producer
Alan is the digital producer for MPavilion. He previously was part of the team as a community manager and administration assistant during the 2016 season. Additionally he works as a photographer and publisher, most recently in the role of creative director for Swampland—a bi-annual print journal of longform Australian music journalism and photography. His work has been published in Vice, The Quietus, Men In This Town, among others, and he has edited non-fiction for publications including Voiceworks and Forerground.
Isabella Woolcott
Administration assistant
Isabella Woolcott is the administrative assistant at MPavilion. Isabella was educated in Italy and Switzerland before returning to Australia to complete an undergraduate degree in Art History and French. During this time she interned at Martin Browne Contemporary and is currently completing her Honours year in Art History at the University of Melbourne.