Janet Twigg-Patterson, artist and teacher of Chinese brush painting, introduces the philosophy and meditation practice of Japanese and Chinese brush painting, and the landscape painting techniques for rocks and mountains found in the strikingly early Meiji screen Wagtails by a rocky torrent by Mochizuki Gyokusen (1843 - 1913) in the East Asian Gallery
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$110; $90 members (includes materials and morning tea)

Artists, curators, conservators and art historians discuss the radical changes in sculpture from the 1960s to the present, from innovative techniques and new materials to politics and social change. This forum is held in conjunction with the exhibitions Soft sculpture and Reinventions. Topics include: assemblage, recycling and poetic licence; inherent vice and ephemeral materials; the impact of humour, play and popular culture.

Free

To celebrate the final week of Soft sculpture, The National Gallery of Australia will be holding Knitta Please, a festival of events from 5 to 12 July. Founded in 2005 in Austin, Texas, Knitta Please is a tag crew of knitters who turned their frustration with their half-finished knitting projects into a phenomenon sweeping across the world. See all Knitta Please events.

The theme for National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee Week this year is ‘Honouring our elders, nurturing our youth’ and, to celebrate, the National Gallery of Australia is hosting a week of community events. Associated events coincide with Knitta Please. See all NAIDOC Week events.

Magda Sayeg, Knitta Please founder and yarn-bomber, discusses the curious convergence of knitting and graffiti, exploring the social implication of street art in our urban environment.

Free

Come and watch the transformation of the Gallery’s Sculpture Garden with colourful knitted objects as Magda Sayeg, founder of Knitta Please, tags everyday items.

Free

Witness the Gallery be transformed with knitting. Held over four days, Magda Sayeg, founder of Knitta Please, and Sydney artist Denise Litchfield transform the front entrance and foyer of the Gallery. Knitters are invited to help create squares of knitting for the coverings. For information on how to become involved, please go to nga.gov.au/whatson/highlights.

Free

Learn how to crochet mukata (beanies) and see traditional Anangu spinning while sharing stories and bush tucker with Pitjantjatjara women around a campfire.
book now
$80 (includes materials and morning tea with kangaroo tail, damper and tea)

A special NAIDOC Week event for children who are members of the Gallery. Learn how to hunt animals with storyteller Larry Brandy, who shows and explains artefacts used by the Wiradjuri nation.
places limited, book now
$5 per child member

Learn how to crochet mukata (beanies) and see traditional Anangu spinning while sharing stories and bush tucker with Pitjantjatjara women around a campfire.
book now
$80 (includes materials and morning tea with kangaroo tail, damper and tea)

Join artist Teffany Thiedeman to carve your own sculpture out of foam, inspired by the works in the exhibition Soft sculpture.
book now
$20; $15 members (includes materials)

Join artist Teffany Thieldman to carve your own sculpture out of foam, inspired by the works in the exhibition Soft sculpture.
book now
$20; $15 members (includes materials)

Picking up on the current London trend and book of the same name, this event will bring together knitters for a relaxed evening of clicking and conversation. Please bring your unfinished knitting projects and join us for this Knitta Please event.
book now
$30; $25 members (includes nibbles and complimentary glass of wine)

Learn how to crochet mukata (beanies) and see traditional Anangu spinning while sharing stories and bush tucker with Pitjantjatjara women around a campfire.
book now
$80 (includes materials and morning tea with kangaroo tail, damper and tea)

Children are invited to attend a finger-knitting workshop taught by Knitta Please founder Magda Sayeg.

Free (materials supplied)

For NAIDOC Week, join Cathy Collins and Sarah McHugh, objects conservators, for a close look at conservation work being done on The Aboriginal Memorial and other works, followed by a glass of sparkling wine in the Members Lounge.

$10 members and their guests

The touching story of two young teenagers in a community in the central desert. Directed by Warwick Thornton and winner of the Camera D’or for best first film at Cannes.
Places limited, no bookings
Free

Learn how to crochet mukata (beanies) and see traditional Anangu spinning while sharing stories and bush tucker with Pitjantjatjara women around a campfire.
book now
$80 (includes materials and morning tea with kangaroo tail, damper and tea)

Learn how to crochet mukata (beanies) and see traditional Anangu spinning while sharing stories and bush tucker with Pitjantjatjara women around a campfire.
book now
$80 (includes materials and morning tea with kangaroo tail, damper and tea)

A presentation on the history of the Alice Springs Beanie Festival and the concept of relaxed reconciliation through the making of beanies.
book now
$15 (includes tea and biscuit)

Join Margie Kevin and Fiona Massey in discovering and drawing animals in the works of art at the Gallery.

BOOKED OUT

Join Margie Kevin and Fiona Massey in discovering and drawing animals in the works of art at the Gallery.
book now
$12; $10 members (includes materials)

Parents and carers with babies and toddlers are invited to join a voluntary guide for a tour of the collection, followed by a morning tea with coffee and cake.
book now
$12, $10 members/concession

Come and enjoy stories told by Gallery educators Margie Kevin and Fiona Massy, and make your own drawings.
book now
$7; $5 members (includes materials)

Join artist Karina Edwards to learn about the concealed knowledge and hidden histories of the Pacific figures on display, and to create pastel drawings of your favourite objects.
book now
$15; $12 members (includes materials)

Join artist Karina Edwards to learn about the concealed knowledge and hidden histories of the Pacific figures on display, and to create pastel drawings of your favourite objects.
book now
$15; $12 members (includes materials)

Join Cathy Collins, Objects Conservator, for a talk on the conservation work carried out on works in preparation for the exhibition Reinventions.
book now
$10; free for members

Claudia Hyles, India aficionado, recently visited two Indian towns in pursuit of pichhavais (shrine hangings) and merchandise for the NGA Shop.

Free

Miriam Kelly, Associate Curator, Australian Painting and Sculpture, discusses selected works from the exhibition Reinventions, followed by light refreshments and music.

$20; $10 members

Experience the fun of drawing as a family and get to know the art at the Gallery with Penny Low, artist and Gallery Educator.
book now
$5 (includes materials)

Enjoy refreshments in the Members Lounge before joining voluntary guides for a discussion on selected works of art in the national collection.
book now
$8; $7 members/concession

Michael Gunn, Senior Curator, Pacific Art, speaks about the Lake Sentani figures from West Papua.

Free

Tour and viewing for people with disabilities and their carers, led by voluntary guides.
book now (02) 6240 6519
Free

Join us for a special trip to Brisbane to see American Impressionism and Realism: a landmark exhibition from the Met and other special events in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery.
further information on enquiry
$710 individual members and their guests; $620 per person twin-share (includes flights, meals and accommodation)

Colin Lanceley discusses his work Pianist, pianist where are you? 1964–65, featured in Reinventions.

Free

Dr Tony Milner, Basham Professor of History, Centre for Asian Societies and Histories, Australian National University, explores the relationship between textiles and power in the Malay kingdoms.

Free

Celebrate the work of internationally renowned Canberra artist Rosalie Gascoigne with a screening of Gascoigne country 1917–1999. Then join Peter Fay, passionate supporter of the National Gallery of Australia, for a talk on Gascoigne’s works in the exhibition Reinventions. Followed by light refreshments.
book now
$20 members and their guests

This annual lecture series showcases the latest work of renowned Australian architects. Presented in association with the ACT Chapter Australian Institute of Architects. Sponsored by BCA Certifiers.
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series $60; $50 members/AIA members/students/concession; single $20; $15 members/AIA members/students/concession

PHOOEY Architects are engaged in the cultural identity of our sustainable future, actively exploring resilience, comfort and aesthetic strategies that incorporate a campaign of awareness, feedback design, recycled form and a re-value of consumption waste. Their work has been described as ugly ... fabulously whimsical .. . a billboard for sustainability ... trash-glamour!
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Robert Bell, Senior Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, discusses some of the quilts on display in Airing of the quilts.

Free

Debbie Ward, Head of Conservation, discusses some of the quilts in the National Gallery of Australia’s collection.

Free

Miriam Kelly, Associate Curator, Australian Painting and Sculpture, discusses Linde Ivimey’s sculpture Aquamanile: cow 2001.

Free

Join Penny Low, artist and Gallery Educator, to develop your drawing and observational skills. This workshop series is held over three Wednesdays from 12 to 26 August.
book now
Series ticket: $60; $50 members/concession

Tony Chenchow and Stephanie Little of Chenchow Little, a Sydney firm working on a range of projects from single and multi-residential housing to retail, interior and tourist developments.
book now
$20; $15 members/AIA members/students/concession

John Barbour discusses his work P-Block (Plumbum), Halcyon 2007.

Free

Internationally celebrated artist and filmmaker Tracey Moffatt gives a presentation about her art practice and recent works and will screen her new video montage, Mother 2009.
book now
$15; $10 members/concession

Jane Clark, Curatorial Consultant, Museum of Old and New Art, and David Wise, Senior Paintings Conservator, join the curator of McCubbin: Last Impressions 1907–17, Anna Gray, Head of Australian Art, to discuss the later works of Frederick McCubbin.

Free

Anna Gray, Head of Australian Art, and exhibition curator, joins us for a special introduction to McCubbin: Last Impressions 1907–17, followed by an exhibition viewing and cocktail reception.
book now
$45 members and their guests (includes exhibition entry)

Join Anna Gray, curator of McCubbin: Last Impressions 1907–17, for a tour of the exhibition.

Free (after exhibition entry: $12; $8 members)

Parents and carers with babies and toddlers are invited to join a voluntary guide for a tour of the collection, followed by a morning tea with coffee and cake.
book now
$12, $10 members/concession

Join Penny Low, artist and Gallery Educator, to develop your drawing and observational skills. This workshop series is held over three Wednesdays from 12 to 26 August.
book now
Series ticket: $60; $50 members/concession

Philip Thalis, Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, a Sydney-based firm that explores the specificity of each site and program within its broader urban and geographical context.
book now
$20; $15 members/AIA members/students/concession

Tour and viewing for carers, exploring the Australian galleries and the exhibition Reinventions, led by voluntary guides in collaboration with CarersACT.
book now (02) 6296 9900
Free

Experience the fun of drawing as a family and get to know the art at the Gallery with Penny Low, artist and Gallery Educator.
book now
$5 (includes materials)

Join Penny Low, artist and Gallery Educator, to develop your drawing and observational skills. This workshop series is held over three Wednesdays from 12 to 26 August.
book now
Series ticket: $60; $50 members/concession

Angelo Candalepas, Candalepas Associates, an award-winning Sydney practice whose work is extensively published in books and journals. Angelo is Adjunct Professor of Architecture at UNSW and a frequent commentator on industry practice.
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$20; $15 members/AIA members/students/concession

Christine Dixon, Senior Curator, International Painting and Sculpture, discusses the inspirations behind Al Held’s Taxicab II, a monumental work painted in 1959.

Free

Anthony Smith, one of Canberra’s most sought-after pianists, performs pieces by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Benjamin Dale and Alban Berg that reflect different branches of the European art–music tradition.

Free

Virginia Haussegger, ABC TV news presenter, journalist, author and media commentator, discusses McCubbin’s art and life with Anna Gray, curator of McCubbin: Last Impressions 1907–17.

Free

Enjoy refreshments in the Members Lounge before joining voluntary guides for a discussion on selected works of art in the national collection.
book now
$8; $7 members/concession

Ron Radford AO, Director, National Gallery of Australia, discusses the works that McCubbin painted in the final decade of his life.

Free

Join us for an exclusive tour of the exhibition McCubbin: Last Impressions 1907–17, followed by breakfast.
book now
$40 members and their guests (includes exhibition entry)

Come and draw throughout the Gallery in this free Community event for all ages and abilities. Held in conjunction with Drawing Australia.

Free (materials supplied)