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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

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Creative activities

Reach for the stars

A place to create

Event, Daily until Sunday 21 July

Drop in to the Gallery these school holidays and enjoy free creative activities.

Maggie

Collection Highlights Tour

Event, Selected days 11:15am, 1:15pm, 2:15pm

Join us in the Gallery for this free 30-minute tour of the collection, exploring portrait stories and the history of the building.

Benjamin Law: happy sad, 2019 Keith Burt

Andrew Sayers Memorial Lecture

Why Portraiture? Who gets to be painted and why?

Event, Wednesday 31 July

Writer, broadcaster and cultural commentator Benjamin Law explores contemporary portraiture and the press.

Viewing Silent Strength by Wayne Quilliam from the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

The Prizes Highlights Tour

Event, Daily until Sunday 13 October

Join us on a 30-minute tour of this year's Darling Portrait Prize and National Photographic Portrait Prize to explore the links between portraiture and identity through diverse representations of Australians and Australian life.

Fred Hollows

Virtual Highlight Tour

The Good Doctor

Event, Tuesday 16 July

Join us as we take a deep dive into the achievements and remarkable lives of eminent medical researchers and doctors in the collection.

Herb and Flan

Virtual Highlight Tour

What’s in a story?

Event, Tuesday 30 July

In this program, we explore portraits of renowned Australian authors and how artists have represented them.

Twelve portraits of finalists for the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2024

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize 2024

Current exhibition

Launched at the National Portrait Gallery in 2022, the Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize is a competition for primary and secondary students, with four separate age categories across Kindergarten to Year 12.

Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal) and Lowitja O’Donoghue at the opening of the inaugural National Aboriginal Conference, Canberra

Virtual Highlight Tour

Keep the Fire Burning

Event, Tuesday 2 July

Celebrate the contributions, achievements and enduring strength of First Nations people represented in the National Portrait Collection.

The National Portrait Gallery building

Virtual Highlight Tour

Staff Favourites

Event, Tuesday 23 July

Join us as our team share some of their favourite portraits that are currently on view in the Gallery.

Portrait of Jawoyn Elder, Margaret Katherine

NAIDOC Portraits

Keep the Fire Burning

Current programs for school groups

Celebrate NAIDOC: Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud and First Nations portraiture in these live National Portrait Gallery programs for primary students. Bookings via DART.

Paradise won, 2024 Ryan Presley

Ryan Presley: Paradise won

Current exhibition

Marri Ngarr artist Ryan Presley's site-specific commission Paradise won is prominently positioned at the Gallery’s entrance. This ambitious new work invites conversations about the ongoing legacies of colonisation and celebrates First Nations survival and autonomy.

HRH Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, 2006 Ralph Heimans AM

Ralph Heimans

Portraiture. Power. Influence.

Previous exhibition, 2024

The exhibition will feature some of the most significant portraits in the artist’s career to date, from early major works such as his painting of HM Queen Mary of Denmark through to his most recent.

Dr Alison Inglis, AM, 2023 Dena Kahan

School portraits

About Face article

Inga Walton sheds light on a portraiture collection usually only seen by students and teachers at Melbourne University.

Mīal 2022/2023 Archie Moore. On display in Gallery One, March 2024. Purchased 2023 © Archie Moore.

Mīal by Archie Moore

Previous exhibition, 2024

Archie Moore is a celebrated Kamilaroi and Bigambul artist whose practice is embedded in the politics of identity, racism and language systems. Mīal is a conceptual self portrait that counters expectations of what a self portrait should be.

Meryl Tankard

Dancer

Touring exhibition, 2024

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition celebrates dance and dancers.

Blow Back

Blow Back

Blow Back

Blow Back, 2018

Portrait, pigment photographic prints on paper, hand ground glass

Gift of the artist 2024. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency