2015 past exhibitions

Freedom Ride '65: unpublished photos from the Tribune archive

Open:

5 September 2015 – 29 November 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Rooms

Take a fresh look at this iconic moment in Australian history, when a busload of students from the University of Sydney set off around country NSW to expose discrimination and racism against Aboriginal people. While the students' aim was to attract the attention of mainstream media, also travelling with them was a reporter/photographer from the Tribune, the weekly newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia. Of more than 100 photographs taken by the Tribune's 'special correspondent', only a handful were ever published.

Now, recently digitised to mark the 50th anniversary of the '65 Freedom Ride, these images provide a compelling alternative view of an event that captured the headlines nationally and internationally and is widely considered a turning point in Australian race relations.

Image: Photo from the Tribune archive, State Library of NSW, courtesy the SEARCH Foundation

Physie: Photographs by Lyndal Irons

Open:

27 June 2015 – 5 October 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

The Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture (BJP) was founded in 1892 by Hans Christian Bjelke-Petersen as a medical gymnasium in Tasmania. While it was initially concerned with correcting the health and posture of men and children, today physical culture (‘Physie') is the domain of Australian females of all ages. Even though Physie has modernised to include elements of dance and thousands of women participate, it remains hard to define.

Sam Hood's 1930s photographs and Lyndal Irons' record of the lead-up to the 2012 BJP National Championships, held at the Opera House, will be on display.

Image: Ashleigh Barry and Lauren Kocass prepare for the Parade of Champions at the BJP National Championships
Photography by Lyndal Irons, 2012
Copyright Lyndal Irons

Australian Inspiration

Open:

8 July 2015 – 27 September 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

The unique beauty of Australia's native flora and fauna has long inspired artists and designers. The earliest natural history drawings of the waratah were used to document a new species. A century later there was a more decorative interpretation. Illustrations of koalas by Dorothy Wall, Norman Lindsay and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite reflect a society which had begun to define its cultural identity through native fauna. And sketches, models and contemporary artworks of the Sydney Opera House show how it evolved from a functional design to become a cultural icon.

Drawing on the Library’s rich collections, this exhibition focuses on how the waratah, the koala and Australia’s most recognizable building, the Sydney Opera House, have become invaluable sources of inspiration and design.

Image: See for yourself: the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, ca. 1949, H. Rousel

Inspiration by Design

Open:

8 July 2015 – 27 September 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

Word and Image from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Don’t miss this stunning free exhibition that showcases some of the world’s finest book art, graphics, photography and illustration. From London’s acclaimed Victoria and Albert Museum, Inspiration by Design celebrates 150 years of collecting by the National Art Library. Immerse yourself in the book beautiful, from historic illustrated manuscripts and rare artists’ books to modern graphic design and fashion photography.

See over 100 treasures including original hand-drawn illustrations from Beatrix Potter, a Pablo Picasso artist book, fashion sketches from Dior and Comme des Garçons, rare medieval manuscripts and much more.

Exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Image: The Grammar of Ornament, 1856, Owen Jones
© VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON

Crowd Source

Open:

4 April 2015 – 23 August 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

In the 1880s Arthur K Syer strolled through the streets of Sydney with his parcel-wrapped, hand-held 'Detective Camera', which allowed him to take photographs without the subject's knowledge.

The informal nature of Syer's photographs — low camera angles, blurred movement and an absence of careful composition — give 1880s Sydney a cinematic quality. The gestures and poses of the street can be sensed.

These images provoke us to put ourselves in the crowd, and compare the lives of 1880s Sydney-siders with our own experience of the city.

Sydney Morning Herald Photos1440

Open:

23 May 2015 – 21 June 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

There are 1440 minutes in a day. In these minutes photographers capture a moment. These moments make up a day.

Photos1440 features photography and multimedia works by Fairfax photographers from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review from 2014 to present.

Sponsored and supported by Fairfax Media and Canon Australia

World Press Photo 2015

Open:

23 May 2015 – 21 June 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

The world's best photojournalism from 2014, selected from the 58th annual World Press Photo contest.

Image: WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR 2014
Mads Nissen, Denmark, Scanpix/Panos Pictures
Jon and Alex, a gay couple during an intimate moment, St. Petersburg, Russia

Shopkeepers of Newtown:

Open:

1 November 2014 – 10 May 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

From 2009-2013 photographer Nic Bezzina documented the independent shopkeepers of Newtown, a suburb well known for its diversity and alternative culture. The body of work is a photographic documentary of some of the most iconic characters of Newtown and represents a snapshot of a vital commercial community at a pivotal time in history.

Image: Ann Kuljack, Envision 54, 473 King Street, 2009, copyright Nic Bezzina, a8817 Online No. 22

Pulp Confidential

Open:

7 February 2015 – 10 May 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

Pulp Confidential: Quick & dirty publishing from the 40s & 50s presents a rich collection of 1940s and 50s vintage Australian “pulp” cover art, crime story illustrations and original comic books, drawn from the papers of Sydney publishing house, Frank Johnson Publications. It gives a glimpse of the everyday workings of a small but resilient player at the hard-scrabble end of the Australian publishing industry.

Lynley Dodd: A Retrospective

Open:

1 November 2014 – 15 March 2015

Venue:

Exhibition rooms, Level 1, Mitchell Building

This exhibition showcases a collection of 59 original drawings from Lynley Dodd's popular children's books, including the Hairy Maclary series, the Schnitzel Von Krumm series, Slinky Malinki, and Scarface Claw. A celebration of Dame Lynley's work to date, this exhibition also includes drawings from her first work dating back to school days, through to the most recent publication, Shoo.
 
Dame Lynley is a universally popular artist, over five million copies of Hairy Maclary alone have been printed, sold and translated into several languages. This little dog is an international character, but it is creator Lynley Dodd who is the magic behind these stories and this exhibition.
 
A touring exhibition from Tauranga Art Gallery in New Zealand.

Image: © & ™ Hairy Maclary and Friends, Lynley Dodd, 2012
Reproduced courtesy of Penguin Group (NZ) and the artist

Remember me: the lost diggers of Vignacourt

Open:

1 November 2014 – 18 January 2015

Venue:

Exhibition Galleries

The small French village of Vignacourt was always behind the front lines. For much of the First World War it was a staging point, casualty clearing station and recreation area for troops of all nationalities moving up to and then back from the battlefields on the Somme. Remember me: the lost diggers of Vignacourt tells the story of how one enterprising photographer took the opportunity of this passing traffic to establish a business taking portrait photographs.

Captured on glass, printed into postcards and posted home, the photographs made by the Thuillier family enabled Australian soldiers to maintain a fragile link with loved ones in Australia. The Thuillier collection covers many of the significant aspects of Australian involvement on the Western Front, from military life to the friendships and bonds formed between the soldiers and civilians. The exhibition showcases a selection of the photographs as handmade traditional darkroom prints and draws on the Memorial's own collections to tell the story of these men in their own voices.

Caption: Photograph by Louis Thuillier
Courtesy Kerry Stokes Collection, the Louis and Antoinette Thuillier Collection
AWM P10550.049