Elder JOHN HARDING (Kuku-Yulangi/Erubian), BA, Dip.Ed, is a founding member of Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Company and a leading figure in Indigenous theatre. Since Ilbijerri’s inception, he has championed Indigenous artistic expression as a playwright, director and actor. He created Ilbijerri’s first play Up the Road (1991), later directed by Neil Armfield for Belvoir Theatre, earning John the Australian Human Rights Medal for Arts in 1997. He has written extensively for stage and screen, including ABC TV’s Blackout and SBS’s The Masters. John is a recipient of the Australia Council Indigenous Fellowship, RAKA Award and the ANU Nugget Coombes Fellowship. His works have toured nationally and internationally. In 2025, John completed Lazarus for Yirramboi Festival and is currently completing a PhD on his Great great-grandfather Douglas Pitt, at Monash University.