Writer. Art Critic. Exhibition Organiser.#
Jasia Reichardt was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1933. In 1942 she was smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto in a time of horror.
Despite this start in life Jasia is a tireless advocate and distributor of knowledge and passion. Her list of accomplishments and accolades are long, varied, and impressive, including publishing over 10 books, contributing over 150,000 files to the National Gallery of Australia, and curating art exhibitions with legacies that echo throughout decades.
Jasia has been an editor, lecturer, tutor, director, organiser, president, participator, committee member, conference goer, art jury member, fellow and more.
Her landmark 1968 exhibition Cybernetic Serendipity is a north star for the amplification of the field of cybernetics. The exhibition showed the potential computers could have as applied to music, art, and poetry. Jasia wrote at the time “Cybernetic Serendipity deals with possibilities rather than achievements and in this sense it is prematurely optimistic”.
Jasia has also been central to the beginnings of the ANU School of Cybernetics. Laying foundational ideas, highlighting inspiring works, and kindly lending cybernetic artefacts for our exhibition Australian Cybernetic: A Point Through Time, Jasia’s expertise has been present long before the launch of our School.
Jasia, 90 years old, remains a fierce force in the field of cybernetics and in transdisciplinary fields across the globe.
You can read more about Jasia’s timeline of impact to significant cybernetic events, ideas, and achievements here.