Meet the Team
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Rachel Barbaresi
Co-chair
I’m an artist working with fragile histories of people and place, memory and archives. Recent work has centred on the domestic space as a site for exploring intergenerational narratives through expanded approaches to painting and sculpture. Other projects include “Urbansuburban”, curated by Modus Operandi as part of the Arts at Westgate programme and “Finding our way” a collaboration with Euton Daley, Dr Hanna Klien-Thomas and Dr María del Pilar Blanco as part of a TORCH funded knowledge exchange project. I’m a lecturer in Fine Art at Oxford Brookes.
DIYer, gardener and composter, bookworm
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Helene Kazan
Trustee
I am an artist and writer. Drawing on feminist methods, my work explores the use of poetics in expressing and translating the experience of violence. In investigating the colonial foundations of international law and its ongoing violent impact, the work privileges embodied knowledge in the form of poetic testimony. A process that looks towards expanded frameworks of reparative justice, in interaction and recognition by the law and beyond.
My work has been exhibited and published across international institutions including: Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025); RADAR, Loughborough (2025); KARST, Plymouth (2024); Beirut Art Center (2023); e-flux (2022); maatEXT & Art Jameel, Lisbon (2022); Ashkal Alwan, Beirut (2019); Vera List Centre, New School, NYC (2018); Serpentine Gallery, London (2017); Tate, London (2015) and the House of World Cultures (HKW), Berlin (2014). I’m a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Oxford Brookes University and received my doctorate from the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London (2019).
Interests - Poetic Testimony
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Milica Tičerić
Trustee
I am a visual artist and creative professional based in Oxford. I work with analogue photography and I am exploring themes of female art, social isolation and immigration how they relate to new and technology. I am interested in artist entrepreneurship and community engagement. I am dedicated to helping creative businesses reach their full potential.
You can find me staring at my phone in Oxford coffee shops and making conversation with neighbours’ cats.
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Donette Victor
Trustee
I'm an artist and advocate for community arts. Most recently I have been engaged with Oxford Windrush Group, organising and delivering workshops to celebrate and raise awareness of the Windrush Generation. My practice focuses on the complexities of identity in contemporary society, particularly from the perspective of being from a mixed background. I am fascinated by the interaction between art and developing technology, and the impact it can have across various art forms.
I'm elated to be joining OVADA and eager to work on innovative ways to engage the local community with the arts. I look forward to connecting with other artists and I'm intrigued to see the impact OVADA will have on their practice.anime and gaming enthusiast, coffee consumer and web3
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Mark Rowan-Hull
Trustee
I am an artist and lifetime member of the University of Oxford. My work centres upon collaboration and performance and reflects upon my own synaesthesia (the experience of seeing sound).I am interested in working across different artforms and disciplines.I am passionate about the role in which the therapeutic role Arts can play, and over the years have worked in a variety of public settings and on public engagement, especially with the vulnerable, and within Mental Health Care settings.
Interests - Improvisation and contemporary Music, Meditation and Nature.
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OVADA is a welcoming artist-led arts centre in Oxford
By working with and supporting artists, we engage with all communities through exhibitions, workshops, and creative projects -
Our continual goal is to make the arts accessible and enjoyable for all
We love the arts and the positive impact it has on all parts of our lives, and we want to share that with everyone -
By offering a meaningful programme of inclusive exhibitions, events and workshops both on and off site
By keeping open conversations alive, we seek to promote critical debate and the exchange of ideas without set outcomes
By giving a voice and space to underserved communities, such as artists of colour and people from working class backgrounds