Bio – Scott Rankin

Scott Rankin is a creative director, author, playwright, director and cultural commentator. He specialises in co-creation, intermediation and collaborative process. Over the past 30 years Scott has written and/or directed 26 theatre works which have been included in major arts festivals including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Edinburgh, staged by Belvoir St Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company and performed in dry river beds on Pitjantjatjara country, in isolated Tasmanian shack communities, on boats, in sheds, hotels and warehouses. His works have toured to Sweden, Iceland, Dublin, Scotland, London, South Africa, New Zealand and Germany.

Scott has been awarded the 2018 Tasmanian of the Year, two Premier’s Literary Awards, three Green Room Performing Arts Industry Awards including Most Innovative Production and Best Direction, a Human Rights Award, the Ros Bower Award for Outstanding Achievement in Services to Community Cultural Development, an Australian Film Institute Award, an Indigenous Deadly Award (jointly with Pitjantjatjara actor Trevor Jamieson), a Sydney Theatre Critics Award (along with eight additional nominations).

For 30 years, Scott has also been the Creative Director of Australia’s leading campaigning arts organisation Big hART, which he co-founded with John Bakes on the North West Coast of Tasmania. Through his work with Big hART Scott has advocated for justice in 55 communities around the country, working with over 10,000 participants living through the effects of hidden issues of injustice. His work is based on cultural justice and intermediating spaces where those with lived experience can speak truth to positions of influence. This work has been the most privileged source of personal learning, shaping his life and garnering Big hART 45 national and international awards, including 9 National Institute of Criminology Violence Prevention Awards, a World Health Organization award for Safe Communities, the 2017 Telstra Small Business Award and Charity Award – both in the same year, a Helpmann Award and the Myer Performing Arts Group Award.

Scott has the privilege of living and working on Tommeginne Country, which provides the grounding for his work.