Education
MFA, Master of Fine Art in Creative Practice
Transart Institute for Creative Research
Berlin and New York, with Plymouth university UK, 2013-15
Read Masters dissertation here
BVA, Bachelor Visual Art in Media Arts, hons class I and the University Medal
Sydney College of the Arts
The University of Sydney, 2003–07
Read Honours dissertation here
Experiential Design
University exchange program, 12 month placement
Cologne International School of Design (KISD)
Germany 2006–07
Art Direction
Certificate course and placement
Australian Film Television and Radio School
2002–03
Film Production
Certificate IV
Sydney University
2001–02
Languages
English - native
German - intermediate
French - beginner
Professional and Academic Experience
2006–current Founder; Director
The Silent Dinner Project
Experiential dining and participatory performance art project.
More than sixty of these 'social sculptures’ have been hosted in twelve countries across fifteen cities since 2006, for between two and 200 participants at a time.
See the archival site for more information at www.silentdinnerparty.com
Or the booking site at www.silentdinner.net
2022--current Adjunct faculty
Paris College of Art
Graduate school in the Fine Art and Photography departments. Teaching 'Educational Principles and Radical Pedagogy' and advising MFA thesis work.
2023 Guest Editor
University of Barcelona, Coolabah Journal
Co-editor in chief of a special edition issue on artistic research into art and ecology titled ‘Wounded Landscapes: Human intervention into natural ecosystems’. Published March 2024.
2018--2022 Editorial Board Member; Director of Public Outreach; Researcher
Project Anywhere: Art at the outermost limits of location specificity
Global, blind peer-reviewed exhibition program of creative projects occurring outside traditional exhibition circuits. Biennial conference and publication.
2019 Aug-Sept Artist in Residence; Lecturer
Newcastle University and The LockUp Contemporary Art Space. Australia.
Visiting Artist in the School of Creative Industries.
2018--current Creative Consultant; Editor
Freelance
Consultant for interdisciplinary arts projects and artist development.
Workshops and coaching in creativity skills for professional development.
Editor of English language texts for cultural and academic research: editor-in-chief; substantive editing; copyediting and proofreading.
2005 – 2018. Creative Director; Producer; Photographer
h e d o n i c s c r e a t i v e
Boutique production house specialising in: still and motion image photography and design; event design. Working with the creative industries including theatre, music, fashion and art. Based in Sydney, Australia.
2015-2017 Faculty; Advisor; Project Manager; Editor
Transart Institute for Creative Research. Berlin/NY
International low-residency MFA and Doctoral programs for artistic research
Studio Advisor to MFA candidates
Project Manager - Transart Triennale, Berlin UFER Studios
Editor - Transart Triennale online publishing platform The Imperceptible Self (ThIS) Blog
2016 Artistic Researcher in residence
Lahore Biennale Foundation and the Goethe Institute
Urbanities: art and public space in Pakistan
Project: participatory social-performances researching women's access to public space in Lahore.
2016 Adjunct Faculty
National College of Art, Lahore, Pakistan.
Fine Arts and Media Arts Departments.
Visiting professor leading an elective course Performance and the Art of Everyday
2015 June: Visiting artist and project facilitator
Warmun Indigenous Art Centre. Gija country, East Kimberley, Western Australia.
Technical and conceptual development and collaborative production of a project based on natural disasters in a remote Aboriginal community. Preparation of artworks for touring exhibition Everything Man Makes Can Be Destroyed.
2007 - Experiential Design Consultant
Red Earth Bar.
Think tank for new gastronomy environment involving Chinese, German and Australian collaborations.
Shanghai, China.
2003 - 2006 - Gallery Director and Curator
Hedonics Window Gallery.
Sydney, Australia
2002 - 2008 - Production Designer; Costume Designer
I designed for various film and television productions, from Saturday Nickelodeon television, to independent feature films.
Sydney, Australia.
Exhibitions, Performances and Projects
2024
SHAPING: REFRACTED TIMES Group exhibition and performances. Curated by Zohreh Deldadeh at POUSH, Paris-Aubervilliers, FR
2023
HONI RYAN: THE SILENT DINNERS Solo exhibition and performances at Project8 Gallery, Melbourne, AU
SILENT DINNER SCENES Performance at POUSH Ateliers des Artistes for Paris+ Art Basel, Paris-Aubervilliers, FR
2022
CREATIVE PATHS Group exhibition at Museo Centro Gaias, Spain, ES
Curated by Monserrat Pis Marcos
2021
BORDERLINE Group exhibition at Pavillion Vendome, Paris-Clichy, FR
2020
SILENT DINNER Social Sculpture, 35 people, Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery with Jeune Création, Paris, FR
FAUVETTE LOUEIRO MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Finalist Exhibition. SCA Gallery, Sydney, AU
THE TROJAN DONKEY Group exhibition, Karachi, PK
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK Group exhibition, Karachi, PK
THE SILENT DINNERS 4 Social Sculptures, 47 people, Private Houses Paris, FR
2019
WITH EVERY BREATH Solo performance and group exhibition, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, AU
ÉCOUTEZ BIEN Performative installation, Cite International des Arts, Paris, FR
2018 May: 'Photos Not Taken (here)' Text installation in the rainforest, Sculpture at Scenic World, Katoomba, AU. Collaboration with Abi Tariq
2018 May: 'New Gravity' Text Installation. sculpture Otherwise. Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, AU. Collaboration with Abi Tariq.
2017 Nov: 'Silent Dinner' 103 Participants. Karachi Biennale, Pakistan. Curated by Amin Gulgee.
2017 June-July: 'This is a State of Emergency' Public Performances and Installation. Gallerie L'inlassable, Paris. Collaboration with Abi Tariq. Curated by Gabriel Hensche.
2016 Dec: 'URBANITIES' exhibition. Alhamra Centre for Contemporary Art Lahore. Curated by Sara Duana Meyer.
2016 Dec: 'Silent Dinner' Lahore. 60 Participants. With the Lahore Biennale foundation and the Goethe Institute, Pakistan.
2016 Nov: 'Walking Presence' - Social Performance, 20 participants. With the Lahore Biennale foundation, Pakistan.
2016 Nov: 'Footpath Feasibilities' Public Intervention, with OCCO Urban Design think tank, Lahore Pakistan.
2016 July: 'SpaceBodies II' group performance art exhibition. UFER STUDIOS Berlin. Curated by Andrea Spaziani.
2016 Jan: 'SpaceBodies I' group performance art exhibition. Judson Gym, Manhattan. New York. Curated by Andrea Spaziani.
2015-16 Nov - Jan: 'Utopian Tomorrow' group exhibition. Goethe Institute, Barcelona, Spain. Curated by Herman Mendolicchio.
2015 Aug: 'Transient Transgressions' MFA grduation exhibition. SomoS Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
2015 July: 'Loose Affairs' Group exhibition. SomoS Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
2015 May - July: 'Strange Embrace' group exhibition. Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Australia. Curated by Rilka Oakley.
2014 Nov: 'Silent Dinner Party' at Elsewhere Living Museum, Greensboro, NC, US
2014 Mar - May: 'Stoop to Yarn'. 5 x 2hr conversational performances, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, Australia.
2014 April 1-7: 'The Passage of Water' an ecological pilgrimage. Social Sculpture. Los Angeles, Cal, US.
2014 Mar-Apr : 'INSTANCE'. Solo exhibition. Blue Mountains City Art Gallery, Katoomba, Australia. catalogue. Curated by Sarah Gurich.
2014 Feb 2: 'A Conversational Quadrant 2'. 4 x 1/2hr social performances with Modern Arts Projects (MAP) Aus. Curated by Lizzy Marshall.
2013/14: 'Mindful Encounters' 4 x 16hr collaborative social performances in the US, Australia and the UK.
2013 Sept: 'A Conversational Quadrant 1'. 2hr social performance in domestic space, Berlin.
2013 Sept 9-24: 'Fleeting Fears'. Durational Performance with peace intentions. Private Space, Berlin.
2013 June : Time ~ a token of constancy. Live AV colaboration. International Symposium of Electronic Art, ISEA Sydney
2013 July: 'Open Frame'. Group Exhibit. Supermarkt Creative Resource Centre, Berlin.
2013 Mar : Silent Dinner Parties, Booked out season, Private Houses, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Australia
2012 Jan - Dec : Exhibition in Project Anywhere. Art at the outermost limits of location specificity. World Wide Web.
2012 Oct : 'Silent Dinners'. 90 Participants, 3 events. Private House, Carlton, Melbourne.
2012 Sept : 'Thyme' Old 505 Theatre, Surry Hills. Sydney, Fringe Festival.
2012 Aug : 'Silent Dinner' Private house, Colonia Condesa, Mexico City.
2012 Aug : Live Projections with Quatro Gangsters 4 (Band). Club Atlantico, el Centro, Mexico City.
2012 July : 'Haircheckpoint' Interventions on Public Transport, New York, NY.
2012 Aug :'Silent Dinner' 50 Participants. Splatterpool Artspace, Brooklyn, New York.
2012 May. 'Sea of Peace' Live AV performance, Paddington Uniting Church, Sydney.
2012 Mar : 'Lahara' Holden Street Theatres, Adelaide Town Hall. Adelaide.
2012 Mar : 'Silent Dinners'. 120 participants, 4 events. Private House, Adelaide.
2012 Feb : 'Silent Dinner' 20 participants. Private house, The Palm, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2012 Jan : 'Silent Dinner' 45 participants, Zico house artists residence, Beirut, Lebanon.
2011 Dec : 'Lahara' Peats Ridge Festival, Glenworth Valley, Australia.
2011 Nov : 'Lahara' Red Rattler Theatre, Sydney, Australia.
2011 Sept : 'Lahara' Old 505 Theatre, Sydney, Australia.
2011 June : 'Normality Project' Part 2. Medical Clinics, Surry HIlls, Sydney, Australia.
2011 Jan : 'Silent Dinner Party' Private House, French quarter, Shanghai, China.
2011 Jan : 'Live Projections / VJ' with the The Ponies (AV collective), club DADA, Shanghai, China.
2011 : 'Live Projections / VJ' with Master of Ribongia (electronic musician)
6 performances, various festivals and clubs in Australia.
2010 - 2011 : Resident VJ in collaboration with VJ:JAX for Low Society Dubstep collective.
10 performances, Various venues, Sydney Australia.
2010 Nov : 'Sounds of Homes' Hardware Gallery, Enmore, Sydney.
2010 Sept : 'Sounds of homes' Installation at Woolongong City Gallery, Australia.
2010 Sept : 'Sounds of homes' Live AV evening at Woolongong City Gallery, Australia
2010 Jun : 'Live Projections / VJ' Sagacious Arts Orchestra, Jazz Octet. Paddington, Sydney, Australia.
2010 : 'Club VJ' The Frequency Lab, electronic musc label, 4 performances Sydney, Australia.
2010 Apr : 'Voicemail' Group Exhibition, Syd Non Objective Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
2010 Apr : 'Silent Dinner' 15 participants. Private House, Jing'An, Shaghai, China.
2009 Mar : 'Silent Dinner'. 8 participants. Restaurant, NanTong, China.
2009 - 2010. Normality Project part 1. Conversational performances within everyday life.
2009 Sept/Oct : 'Lightworks' Art and About Festival, exhibition and residency, Darlinghurst, Sydney.
2009 Nov : 'Scavenger X' Installation. High and Dry Festival, Sydney, Australia.
2009 May : Awkward Conversation. Single Origin Cafe, Surry Hills, Sydney.
2009 May : 'Augur' Creative Sydney Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia.
2009 Apr: 'Pulptry, Sculptural Poetry' with Token Imagination, Sydney Australia.
2009 Feb : 'Stick 'em Up' Group Exhibition, The Wall, Kings Cross, Sydney Australia.
2008 May : Ring Ring. Group exhibition, Breathing Colours Gallery, Balmain.
2008 Dec: 'Pulptry, Sculptural Poetry' Performances and installation, Peats Ridge Festival, Australia.
2007 June - Sept : 'Silent Dinners' 15 participants, 3 performances in Sydney, Australia.
2007 Mar : 'Silent DInner' 4 participants. Private House. Cologne, Germany
2006 - 2007. Europe. Haircheckpoint #2 - #17. Interventions in public squares and on transport.
2006 Dec : 'Rooftop' with Alec Crichton Odonien Free state for art & Culture, Cologne, Germany.
2006 June : 'Stadt Teaser / City Spoiler' Public interventions, Cologne, Germany.
2006 June : 'Alien Presence H' Group Exhibition. First Draft Gallery, Sydney, Australia. Curated by Danial Kojta.
2006 May : 'Little Wishes' installation. With UNICEF and the Art Wagon, Triangle Tower, Cologne, Germany.
2005 and 2007 Nov : Sydney College of the Arts, graduation exhibitions.
2005 Feb : 'Haircheckpoint' installation. hedonics gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney.
2003 Dec : Metal Skin. solo exhibition, hedonics gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney.
Residencies and Symposia
2017 Oct - Nov. Residency, VASL Artists Association, Karachi Biennale Artist in Residence, Pakistan.
2016 Oct - Dec. Residency, 'URBANITIES: Art in public spaces in Pakistan'. Lahore Biennale Foundation
2016 Dec. Symposium - Panel with international Urbanists and Artists, 'URBANITIES' Lahore Biennale Foundation and the Goethe-Institut
2016 February. Residency, 'Silence Awareness Existence' Arteles Creative Centre, Finland.
2015 September. Symposium. 'Next To Nothing - Art as Performance' Symposium. Newcastle University, Australia.
2015 Feb: Residency, 'Strange Embrace' Bilpin International Ground for Creative Initiatives with Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Australia.
2015 Feb: Symposium 'Toward a New Bohemia' creative salon and think tank, Dixon Place Theatre, Manhattan, New York, US.
2015 Jan: Residency, 'Transart' at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Manhattan, NY, US.
2014 Dec: Symposium 'Project Anywhere' symposium on 'Art at the outermost limits of location specificity' Parsons New School, NY, US.
2014 Oct/Nov: Residency 'Elsewhere Living Museum' Greensboro, NC, US.
2014 Sept: Residency 'Cittadellarte - centre for art and responsible social transformation', Biella, Italy.
2013 Mar: Presentation 'Food and Consciousness' Artist talk with Sydney Evolver Spore, Alpha House, Sydney.
2013 Dec: Residency, 'Transart' Brooklyn Writers Centre, New York, US.
2013 to 2015: July- Aug: Transart MFA Residencies. Berlin.
2010 - 2011 : Resident Visual Artist. Endgame Records / Megaphon Studios. Sydney, Australia.
Publications
2023 – H. Ryan, 'Biome | Home: The fragile exchange between domesticity and ecology in the work of Jacqueline Spedding' in Coolabah Journal, issue #35 (2023) ISSN: 1988-5946
2023 – H. Ryan, 'Coda: Persistence at the End of Civilisation: Migration and the Climate Emergency’' in Coolabah Journal ‘ issue #35 (2023) ISSN: 1988-5946
2022 – H. Ryan, ‘Paths through Pakistan’s Gendered Urbanities’ chapter in Creative Paths, ed. M.P. Marcos. Edition accompanying the exhibition Creative Paths (Spain: Museo Centro Gaiás, 2022).
2018 - Publication 'Walking Presence' Article. Interartive Journal for Contemporary Art and Thought, issue #100 ISSN 2013-679X (forthcoming)
2018 - Publication 'We Walk Lahore' Artist Book. Meyer, S.D. (ed) Goethe Institut, 2017. ISBN: 9789699697012 Available here.
2017 - Publication 'The Silent Dinners: 3 Cities' Artist Book. Herman B. Mendolicchio (ed) Goethe-Institut and Hedonics Creative. Available here.
2015 Publication. 'Mindful Encounters - Field notes' Article in ANYWHERE journal for art and research.
2014 Publication ‘INSTANCE: An Exhibition of Recent Works and Performances’ Exhibition Catalogue, Hedonics Creative, Ryan, H. (ed)
ISBN- 978-0-9924376-0-2, 2014 Available here.
2014 Sept: Publication. Article and photo essay 'Silent Dinner Parties' in ELSE International Journal of Art, Literature, Theory.
Awards and Scholarships
Transart Achievement Award, 2017.
URBANITIES stipendium, Goethe Institut, 2016
Arteles Residency Grant, Finland, 2015.
Tour Ready Award, Sydney and NZ Fringe Festival, 2015/6
Transart Merit Scholarship, 2013-15
Art and About Sydney, Australia Council grant, 2009.
University Medal, The University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts, 2007.
Zelda Stedman Traveling Artist scholarship, 2006.
Sydney University international travel scholarship, 2006.
Sydney University, Union Broadcasting Society award for Best Production Design, 2002.
Inclusion in 'Encore': matriculation exhibition for excellence in theatrical design.
Press
Fairley, G. 'Sculpture At Scenic World Review' in Visual Artshub Australia, Online, April 17, 2018. [Last accessed 15.08.2018]
Alam, J.J. 'A Face to Face With Silence' in Naqvi, F. and Mirza, Q. (eds) Artnow Pakistan, Online, January 2, 2017. [Last accessed 15.08.2018]
Mirza, Q. 'Serving in Silence' in The News on Sunday, Pakistan. Online, January 29, 2017. [Last accessed 15.08.2018]
Zielinska, W. ‘How Do We Value Hospitality Today? Taking hospitality further based on Kipras Dubaskas' 'Lost Hour' and Honi Ryan's 'Silent Dinner Party’' The University of Amsterdam, NL, 2012.
Lowry, S. ‘Monuments To Heroic Failure’ in Broadsheet Contemporary Visual Arts + Culture, Vol 37, No. 3, 2008.
Majumdar‘, A. 'Eating Their Words’, in The Sydney Morning Herald, June 17, 2011.
Nair, S. 'Silent Dinner Parties'. Buzzcuts Arts review, Melbourne, October 6th, 2012. Winner of Express Media best article of the year, 2012
Elali, N. 'What is a Silent Dinner Party? Honi Ryan teaches Beirut how to eat in Silence.' Lebanon Now, Jan 20, 2012. [No longer online]
Flynn, H. ‘Silent Dinner Parties’, in Readers Digest, The Guide, Cover, Nov 2010.
Houghton, D. ‘In The Pursuit of Silence’, Australian Independent Journalism, Arts & Culture, 2010. [No longer online]
BIO | CV
2010 - present
2010 - present