2011 past exhibitions
2011
On Sale! Shops & Shopping
- Open:
- 8 August 2011 – 30 October 2011
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
Shops are central to everyday life - wherever people have settled, retailing has followed. Originally we shopped only from necessity; these days it's a leisure activity and a form of entertainment.
After the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove, traditional methods of exchange took over as consumer demand quickly outstripped the scope of government provisioning. The first markets were set up on the harbour foreshore, moving steadily west as settlement expanded.
Our modes of shopping have changed over time from general stores and street hawkers, to the stylish arcades and grand department stores of our cities, and the sprawl of the modern suburban shopping mall. This evolution continues today with online retail and the recent 'pop-up' shop phenomenon.
The way we shop influences the way we eat, dress and live, and also plays an important role in our economy.
Image: Getting the most out of retailing (cover), ca. 1925, The National Cash Register Co., Sydney, NSW, ML 658.87/8
Sydney Morning Herald Photos 1440
- Open:
- 2 July 2011 – 24 July 2011
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
There are 1440 minutes in a day. In these minutes photographers capture a moment. These moments make up a day.
The Sydney Morning Herald's photography exhibition Photos 1440 is presented by the State Library of NSW as part of Canon's EOS Festival of Photography. The exhibition features prints and multimedia of the best published and unpublished work by Sydney Morning Herald photographers from 2010 to the present.
World Press Photo 2011
- Open:
- 2 July 2011 – 24 July 2011
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
Presented by the State Library of NSW as part of Canon's EOS Festival of Photography, this annual exhibition features the award-winning photographs from the prestigious World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Showcasing approximately 200 photographs in ten theme categories including: news, nature, portraits, arts and entertainment, sports, and daily life, this is the Library's most popular guest exhibition.
Carved trees: Aboriginal cultures of western NSW
- Open:
- 16 April 2011 – 26 June 2011
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
The Clifton Cappie Towle collection at the State Library of NSW includes hundreds of photographs including carved trees from central and north-western NSW photographed between about 1920 and 1940.
The photos of Aboriginal carved trees in this collection are especially striking and have been meticulously documented. Tree carvings can be found dotted throughout Australia, but they are quintessentially of NSW origin – specifically the work of Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artists.
Special care notice
Images of the carved trees are respectfully displayed following consultation with relevant Aboriginal community representatives of western NSW. Further information is available in the Carved Trees Exhibition Guide (PDF 5.53 MB).
Moran Prizes 2011
- Open:
- 21 April 2011 – 26 June 2011
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
Beach, Bush & Battlers: photographs by Jeff Carter
- Open:
- 4 January 2011 – 20 February 2011
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
The Jeff Carter photographs in Beach, Bush + Battlers have been selected from his remarkable, historically significant archive of over 50,000 works celebrating the lives of everyday Australians in rural, outback, urban and coastal communities dating from the late 1940s through to today.
Curator Sandra Byron, the leading expert on Carter's work, says about the exhibition: 'Carter's iconic images are a testament to his respect for ordinary people and his commitment to the Australian landscape and environment.'
Carter (also an acclaimed author and award-winning film-maker), continued to travel and photograph into his eighties. When not on the road he lived on his 45 hectare property, Glenrock Farm Wildlife Refuge, Foxground, which he had gazetted into a Wildlife Refuge in 1962.
Sadly, Jeff Carter died in October 2010.
Kahlil Gibran: The Prophet, The Artist, The Man
- Open:
- 4 December 2010 – 20 February 2011
- Venue:
- Galleries
This exhibition will introduce audiences to Kahlil Gibran. While many Australians of the baby boomer generation have read The Prophet or heard of Gibran, few know about his life or artworks.
Gibran left Lebanon in 1895 at the age of 12 with his mother and three siblings for a better life in America. Settling in Boston, his early artistic talent was noticed by pictorial photographer F Holland Day of the Boston avant-garde. Gibran gradually developed into a romantic who read widely and drew compulsively.
This exhibition provides an overview of Gibran’s artistic output, featuring oil paintings, works of art on paper — including the original watercolours used as illustrations in the first edition of The Prophet — and writings selected from Gibran’s personal collection at the Gibran Museum in Bsharri, North Lebanon.