Past exhibitions

Two artist-initiated projects that put the voices and experiences of young people front and centre.

The first project – on display from 9 November – is Home: drawings by Syrian children, which makes visible the thoughts, memories, hopes and fears of young people displaced by the conflict in Syria. These drawings were brought together by Australian painter Ben Quilty following his visits to refugee camps and transit centres in Lebanon, Greece and Serbia.

The second project has been co-created by Australian artist Claudia Nicholson and young people from families seeking asylum in Australia. It builds on a series of workshops, organised by the Art Gallery of NSW at the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown and Fairfield Public School, which explored the idea of ‘belonging’.

All the young artists involved in these projects have a range of lived experiences. In making art about those experiences, they are sharing their stories on their terms and asking that they be seen. Presented at the threshold of the Australian collection, their artworks are an invitation to reflect on what it is to belong, to be heard, welcomed and recognised.

Image: Claudia Nicholson with Miss L, Miss J, Miss M, Miss H, Miss V and Miss T By your side 2019 (still) © the artists; Fawaz, age 8, The houses on fire in Syria with smoke 2017 (detail); Zaina, age 9, I’m drawing in a garden in Syria 2017 (detail), Settlement Services International and Lost in Books, Fairfield, Australia © the artists