Lleah Smith was born on Cabrogal Country, Australia, and is currently based in Ngāmotu, Aotearoa. She is Head of Public Practice + Creative Enquiry at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre and Puke Ariki Museum and Libraries, Ngāmotu. Smith works across pedagogy, art, and the curatorial, and has made significant contributions to the Asia-Pacific over the past 12 years.

Smith’s PhD research at Monash University agitates the relationship between pedagogy, art, and curatorial practice by positioning fermentation as material practice, metaphor, methodology, and method for thinking and learning. She is committed to creating spaces where productive agitation can take root and flourish.

Her independent research into the para-pedagogical—bubbling up during a 2024 residency at Konstmuseet i Norr (KIN), Sweden, and cultivated through 12 years of practice—extends this enquiry into situated, materially grounded curatorial methodologies.

Notably, Smith has curated Radical Care Kit, Sydney Children’s Hospital (2023–2024); The Waterhouse, 23rd Biennale of Sydney, rīvus (2021–2022); and Kaldor Studio, Kaldor Public Art Projects x Art Gallery of NSW (2019). Her leading independent projects include Thinking Bodies. Fermenting Worlds, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2025); Hidden Lessons, Powerhouse (2021–2022); and FUTURE SCHOOL, Cementa22 (2022).

Previously, Smith was Curator, Programs and Learning, at the Biennale of Sydney, and Artistic Lead at 4A Centre for Asian Australian Art. She is a current member of the Arts. Creativity. Education Research Group, Monash University, and the Climate Aware Creative Practices Network, with representatives across Australia.