Who’s on our board? A group of passionate, driven individuals from business and the arts, charged with the task to strategically lead and guide the development of Curious Legends! See below for who’s who.
Mitchell Reese – CEO
Mitchell is Curious Legends’ founder and CEO/Artistic Director. Graduating with a Masters in Arts Management from RMIT in Melbourne, Mitchell has spent over 20 years creating theatre for families and young people. With a wide range of skills in directing & performance, Mitchell is the driving force behind Curious Legends. He has managed numerous high profile projects, working with community, government, commercial, and NGO partners across three continents.
Golnar Nabizadeh – Chairperson
Golnar Nabizadeh is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at ANU, and has written extensively on experiences of migration and memory as imagined through comics and graphic novels. These themes are explored in her book, Representation and Memory in Graphic Novels (Routledge, 2019). She was born in Iran and migrated to Australia with her parents in 1985. Golnar loves drawing, flamenco and classical music, among other things. Golnar is excited to work with Curious Legends because of the company’s commitment to the power of visual and experiential storytelling for people of all ages.
Mel Cox – Treasurer
Mel began her career in copyright licensing in the book publishing industry specialising in international rights sales. She went on to do an MBA and switched her love of books and writing to work in the Commonwealth public service as a program manager for advisory services to Australian businesses. She managed the Growth and Business Management services within the Entrepreneurs’ Programme working with 100 private sector business advisers to help 1,500 small and medium sized businesses each year to enhance their growth and innovation potential. Mel aims to strike the right balance between business principles and the creative arts.
Harry Twohig – Secretary
Harry has been involved in the design and delivery of programs for young people and communities since graduating from university. He grew up in Middlesbrough – a working-class town with a strong industrial heritage in North-East England – before relocating to Australia in 2024. In the UK, he was on the board of NYMAZ, a place-based youth music development charity, and he believes passionately in the potential that music, theatre and performance has to communicate stories, create joy and spark conversation.
Mitchell Reese – CEO
Mitchell is Curious Legends’ founder and CEO/Artistic Director. Graduating with a Masters in Arts Management from RMIT in Melbourne, Mitchell has spent over 20 years creating theatre for families and young people. With a wide range of skills in directing & performance, Mitchell is the driving force behind Curious Legends. He has managed numerous high profile projects, working with community, government, commercial, and NGO partners across three continents.
Golnar Nabizadeh – Chairperson
Golnar Nabizadeh is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at ANU, and has written extensively on experiences of migration and memory as imagined through comics and graphic novels. These themes are explored in her book, Representation and Memory in Graphic Novels (Routledge, 2019). She was born in Iran and migrated to Australia with her parents in 1985. Golnar loves drawing, flamenco and classical music, among other things. Golnar is excited to work with Curious Legends because of the company’s commitment to the power of visual and experiential storytelling for people of all ages.
Mel Cox – Treasurer
Mel began her career in copyright licensing in the book publishing industry specialising in international rights sales. She went on to do an MBA and switched her love of books and writing to work in the Commonwealth public service as a program manager for advisory services to Australian businesses. She managed the Growth and Business Management services within the Entrepreneurs’ Programme working with 100 private sector business advisers to help 1,500 small and medium sized businesses each year to enhance their growth and innovation potential. Mel aims to strike the right balance between business principles and the creative arts.
Louise Martin-Chew – Secretary
Louise Martin-Chew has been writing about the visual arts, biography, nature and culture for thirty years. Her interest in the arts was piqued when, as a child, she attended art classes with her mother and found a place for herself. She won an art prize or two but, after discovering art history at university, she stopped painting to write about the work of others. She has authored many books and is a regular contributor to magazines and journals. Her biography Fiona Foley Provocateur: An Art Life won best book (joint prize) at the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand awards in 2022.
