Dr Elly (Ellen) Kent is a lecturer in Indonesian at ANU. She has worked as researcher, writer, translator, artist, educator and intercultural professional over 20 years in academia and the arts in Indonesia and Australia.

Elly sits on the Committee of Management of The Asian Arts Society of Australia (TAASA) and on the board of The Australian National University's Indonesia Institute (where she was formerly Deputy Director).

Elly is the author of Artists and the People: Ideologies of Indonesian Art (2022) NUS Press, and co-editor (with Virginia Hooker and Caroline Turner) of Living Art: Indonesian Artists Engage Politics, Society and History (2023) ANU Press.

Elly’s research focuses on contemporary and historical art, design and cultural practices in Southeast Asia, and especially in Indonesia. She is interested in the intersection between social change, politics and art practice and her doctoral research focused on participatory practices and ideologies in Indonesian art.