Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art
25 sep. — 21 nov. 2026
Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art
25 sep. — 21 nov. 2026
Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art
25 sep. — 21 nov. 2026
Curated by local young people, this exhibition reveals prominent works from the Gallery’s permanent collection made between 1975 and 2025. Supported by Gallery staff, youth participants consider the works of ten living artists whose contribution to the Gallery’s holdings, exhibition history, and local storytelling has been immense. Artworks presented take the form of textiles, painting, drawing, photography, collage, and video. However, the artistic concerns behind them traverse archiving, education, choreography, archaeology, family history, agriculture, psychology, climate change, and queer identities.
Paired with interviews of each artist responding to youth participant enquiries, Speaking collections perceives art making, collecting, and curation as a form of intergenerational connection, problem solving, and time-traveling. A cosmology of meaning and personal journeys, this exhibition offers a vibrant study of our region’s significant physical, social, and psychological fabric as witnessed by a lifetime of leading artists and future arts practitioners.
Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund
10
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Artist interviews, video by Silversalt Photograpy, edited by Hannah Gee; Harriet Body, ‘A tree is a passage between earth and sky’, 2021, Purchased 2021; featuring Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024; Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025, purchased 2025; Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013 and Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy, 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024; Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025, purchased 2025; Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013; Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy 2025; Rowan Conroy, 'Fencelines #2' from the series 'Weereewa/Bad Water', 2019, with music composition by Chris Sainsbury, purchased 2019; Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022; Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025 and Clara Adolphs, ‘Daylight Hours’, 2018, purchased 2018. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013; Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy 2025; Rowan Conroy, 'Fencelines #2' from the series 'Weereewa/Bad Water', 2019, with music composition by Chris Sainsbury, purchased 2019; Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022 and Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring; Rowan Conroy, 'Fencelines #2' from the series 'Weereewa/Bad Water', 2019,(detail) with music composition by Chris Sainsbury, purchased 2019; Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022; Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025 and Clara Adolphs, ‘Daylight Hours’, 2018, purchased 2018 and Ben Quilty, ‘Skull Rorschach’, 2009, purchased 2029. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Artist interviews, video by Silversalt Photograpy, edited Hannah Gee and Harriet Body, ‘A tree is a passage between earth and sky’, 2021, purchased 2021. Photograph Silversalt Photography
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024; Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025, purchased 2025 and Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013 and Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022 and Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Clara Adlophs, ‘Daylight Hours’, 2018, purchased 2018 and Ben Quilty, ‘Skull Rorschach’, 2009, purchased 2029. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Artist interviews, video by Silversalt Photograpy, edited Hannah Gee; Harriet Body, ‘A tree is a passage between earth and sky’, 2021, purchased 2021; Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024 and Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025 (detail), purchased 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art
25 sep. — 21 nov. 2026
Curated by local young people, this exhibition reveals prominent works from the Gallery’s permanent collection made between 1975 and 2025. Supported by Gallery staff, youth participants consider the works of ten living artists whose contribution to the Gallery’s holdings, exhibition history, and local storytelling has been immense. Artworks presented take the form of textiles, painting, drawing, photography, collage, and video. However, the artistic concerns behind them traverse archiving, education, choreography, archaeology, family history, agriculture, psychology, climate change, and queer identities.
Paired with interviews of each artist responding to youth participant enquiries, Speaking collections perceives art making, collecting, and curation as a form of intergenerational connection, problem solving, and time-traveling. A cosmology of meaning and personal journeys, this exhibition offers a vibrant study of our region’s significant physical, social, and psychological fabric as witnessed by a lifetime of leading artists and future arts practitioners.
Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund
10
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Artist interviews, video by Silversalt Photograpy, edited by Hannah Gee; Harriet Body, ‘A tree is a passage between earth and sky’, 2021, Purchased 2021; featuring Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024; Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025, purchased 2025; Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013 and Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy, 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024; Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025, purchased 2025; Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013; Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy 2025; Rowan Conroy, 'Fencelines #2' from the series 'Weereewa/Bad Water', 2019, with music composition by Chris Sainsbury, purchased 2019; Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022; Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025 and Clara Adolphs, ‘Daylight Hours’, 2018, purchased 2018. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013; Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy 2025; Rowan Conroy, 'Fencelines #2' from the series 'Weereewa/Bad Water', 2019, with music composition by Chris Sainsbury, purchased 2019; Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022 and Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring; Rowan Conroy, 'Fencelines #2' from the series 'Weereewa/Bad Water', 2019,(detail) with music composition by Chris Sainsbury, purchased 2019; Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022; Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025 and Clara Adolphs, ‘Daylight Hours’, 2018, purchased 2018 and Ben Quilty, ‘Skull Rorschach’, 2009, purchased 2029. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Artist interviews, video by Silversalt Photograpy, edited Hannah Gee and Harriet Body, ‘A tree is a passage between earth and sky’, 2021, purchased 2021. Photograph Silversalt Photography
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024; Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025, purchased 2025 and Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Jenny Bell, ‘Merino 1’, ‘Merino 3’, ‘Merino 7’, ‘Merino 9’, 2013, purchased 2013 and Diana Wood Conroy, ‘Universe’, 1975, donated by Diana Wood Conroy 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Dean Cross, ‘Cataclysm’, 2021, donated under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Dean Cross 2022 and Sammy Hawker, ‘Honeycomb #3’, 2023, purchased 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Clara Adlophs, ‘Daylight Hours’, 2018, purchased 2018 and Ben Quilty, ‘Skull Rorschach’, 2009, purchased 2029. Photograph Silversalt Photography.
‘Speaking collections: youth perspectives on contemporary art’ is supported by Museums & Galleries NSW through the Audience Development Fund.
Image: Installation view 'Speaking Collections: youth perspective on contemporary art’ featuring Artist interviews, video by Silversalt Photograpy, edited Hannah Gee; Harriet Body, ‘A tree is a passage between earth and sky’, 2021, purchased 2021; Brenda L Croft, 'Mum, Dot, 21, Thredbo’, 2018, pigment print, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Brenda L Croft in memory of Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone), descendant of William & Augusta Stephenson, 2024 and Ray Monde, ‘Returning from the Oracle’, 2025 (detail), purchased 2025. Photograph Silversalt Photography.