Art at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | History Museum

Art at the Australian War Memorial

Locality: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Phone: +61 2 6243 4211

Address: Treloar Cres 2612 Canberra, ACT, Australia

Website: www.awm.gov.au/collection/art

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23.01.2022 Incredibly privileged to have artist Staff Sergeant Guy Warren AM visit the Memorial today. Guy spent over an hour reminiscing about his time in the Pacific from 1944-5, while reacquainting himself with both his own works and those of his friend Staff Sergeant Oliffe Richmond. During his visit he recounted these works as if they were created only yesterday. You can view some of Guy's works from the collection here: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search #AWM #australianwarmemorial #kingstreetgallery #Artist #secondworldwar #newguinea

23.01.2022 When Matt Jones found himself homeless in Sydney, camping on friends’ couches and sleeping on trains, he never dreamt that he would one day win a national art prize for veterans. A former army major from who served in East Timor, Matt is the winner of the 2020 Napier Waller Art Prize for his work Yarn. We all know the word yarn to have a yarn, to talk, to tell stories so I thought it was a very interesting sort of play on words."... The inspiration behind Matt’s work, made from yarn and recycled fabric, comes from the blue and yellow maritime signal flag, Kilo, meaning, I want to communicate with you. For Matt, it is deeply personal. To say it hasn’t been an easy journey for me after leaving the army would be an understatement, he said. It’s been really difficult in a whole range of ways, and I’m on the other side of the breakers now as I swim through the surf." The act of making this oversized signal flag is a declaration that I wish to leave the messiness of the past behind me. It’s time to pick up the loose threads and broken relationships, be they personal, societal or institutional. Unless we have the courage to show vulnerability in telling those stories, we are just going to dance around the issue. Read the article in full below. https://www.awm.gov.au//Matt-Jones-wins-Napier-Waller-Art- #NWAP #NWAP2020

22.01.2022 There's still time to register for tomorrow's Museum at Home Webinar - 'Art of Nation', led by our very own Dr Anthea Gunn. The interactive online seminar will be held Tuesday, 15 December from 11.00-12.00 AEDT. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/museum-at-home-webinar-art-

22.01.2022 Napier Waller Art Prize Seven days to go till the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 opens at the Australian War Memorial and the winner announced on the 24 September!!!! Make sure to vote for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD. The on-line exhibition features 31 finalist artworks and cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020. ... VOTE NOW: https://www.awm.gov.au/nwap #napierwallerartprize# AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM Rick Meehan, Diggers Lament , 2020, acylic on canvas, 91.2 x 91.2 cm

19.01.2022 Intstall day HEARTS AND MINDS #orangeregionalmusem #artawm #myawm #australianwarmemorial #propaganda

19.01.2022 Today’s curators pick is by Senior Curator Alex Torrens. ‘This drawing by official war artist Fred Leist takes us into the busy repairing room of an AIF Divisional bath. While the artist completed over 70 works for the collection this is one of only two drawings by Leist of the women who worked in vital roles to support Allied troops (the other is a scene in a Corp laundry). All those socks and uniforms hanging from the ceiling bring vividly to mind the mammoth amount of lab...our needed. It is a small intimate window into life on the Western front and I often wish that Leist had made more of these types of drawings.’ To explore other works of art by Australian First World War official war artists in the @memorial’s collection visit the online exhibition ‘Art of Nation’: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/art-of-nation image: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C172177 #museumathome #arttreasures #Memorialathome #MyAWM #AWMemorial #ANZAC #drawings #WW1 #officialwarartist #women #sewing #FredLeist

18.01.2022 Today’s Curator’s pick is by our #ANU Art Intern Chelsie. On the 19th May 1967, Trevor Lyons commenced his deployment in Vietnam as a second lieutenant for the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment. Serving in Vietnam for one year, Lyons was medically discharged in 1968, after a training incident involving the explosion of a claymore anti-personal mine left him with serious facial injuries. Returning from Vietnam to endure major reconstructive surgery Lyons turned to... art in order to explore the physical and psychological implications of what he had confronted during his deployment. Journeys in My Head [State 22 of 22] is the final image in a series of 22 prints. With each physiognomic transformation, the portrait pivots towards the viewer with growing intensity. The gradual disintegration of the image provides a vivid metaphor for Lyons’s painful facial reconstruction following his return from deployment. What finally emerges in Journeys in My Head [State 22 of 22] confronts the audience through a skeletal gaze. Lyons skillfully manipulated the medium to produce a technically and conceptually sophisticated exploration of self-portraiture and personal reflection. Compositions such as this allow the AWM to establish a shared visual and biographic rhetoric with the Vietnam Conflict. The suite of 22 prints produced for is an overt affront to the enduring implications of conflict on the individual. Trevor Lyons was diagnosed with Leukemia in May 1990 while completing his postgraduate study at the Queensland College of Art. He passed away five months later. While his professional practice was unable to be explored further, his profound legacy on the documentation of the impact of the Vietnam conflict on veterans is commemorated in the collection of the Australian War Memorial. Image: link on website Trevor Lyons, Journeys in My Head [State 22 of 22], 1987. Etching and aquatint on paper. 61 x 43.4 cm. Canberra: Australian War Memorial, ART45106. #MyAWM #AWMemorial #prints #printmaking #etching #VietnamWar #Veterans #MuseumatHome

16.01.2022 Napier Waller Art Prize The Australian War Memorial is pleased to announce that the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 online exhibition is now live. The exhibition features 31 finalist artworks. Voting is now open for the People’s Choice award, a cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020. #NWAP... VOTE NOW: https://www.awm.gov.au/Napier-/2020-Napier-Waller-Art-Prize Ken McGuire, The address, 2020 acrylic on fabric 50 x 40 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

15.01.2022 To celebrate NAIDOC week the Australian War Memorial was very proud to interview, over Zoom, the Indigenous artist Ron Bradfield (Bardi) regarding his work ‘In... Plain Sight’ which he was awarded Highly Commended in the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020. This year's theme #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe recognises the sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their remarkable, ongoing custodianship of this country for more than 65,000 years. Learn more: https://www.awm.gov.au//2020-Napier-Waller-/In-Plain-Sight

15.01.2022 Napier Waller Art Prize THREE days to go till the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 opens at the Australian War Memorial and the winner announced on the 24 September!!!! Make sure to vote for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD. The on-line exhibition features 31 finalist artworks and cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020.... VOTE NOW: https://www.awm.gov.au/nwaphttps://www.awm.gov.au/nwap #napierwallerartprize#AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM Talia Nicholson, Pick'n'Mix, 2019, acrylic on wood, 20 x 71cm Image courtesy of the artist.

14.01.2022 #PosterFriday This #PosterFriday uses a play on word to alter the adage ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ to become ‘absence makes the war grow longer’. Issued by the Australian Department of War Organisation of Industry, the poster was produced to discourage workers from taking unnecessary leave, not following austerity measures, and not investing in war loans. The poster suggests that following these measures will ensure a hastened end to the war. https://www.awm.gov....au/collection/C97827 #PosterFriday #AustralianWar Memoiral #AWMArt #MyAWM #Propagandaposter #WW2 #AWM #AWMemorial

14.01.2022 Napier Waller Art Prize Make sure to vote for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD. The on-line exhibition features 31 finalist artworks and cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020. VOTE NOW:... https://www.awm.gov.au/nwap The Highly Commended works are now on display at the AWM until the 22nd of November and you can book your ticket here: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit #napierwallerartprize #AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM Michael Armstrong, 'Observers of being', 2019, oil on canvas, 122 x 76.5 cm

13.01.2022 Napier Waller Art Prize Eleven days to go till the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 opens at the Australian War Memorial and the winner announced on the 24 September!!!! ... Make sure to vote for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD. The on-line exhibition features 31 finalist artworks and cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020. VOTE NOW: https://www.awm.gov.au/nwaphttps://www.awm.gov.au/nwap #napierwallerartprize#AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM Adam Lo, The young veteran, graphite pencil and texture paste on canvas, 60 x 50 cm, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist.

13.01.2022 #WeRememberThem Louis McCubbin made this watercolour while in France as #OfficialWarArtist in 1918. It shows a graveyard in the Somme Valley. McCubbin noted that the two crosses in the left hand corner mark graves of Australians; Lieutenant ODM Hassam and Private EJ Taylor. To explore other works of art by Australian First World War official war artists in the Australian War Memorial’s collection visit the online exhibition ‘Art of Nation’:... https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/art-of-nation image: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C172291 #MyAWM #AWMemorial #ww1 #remembranceday2020 #memory #watercolour #painter #commemorative #lestweforget #Anzac

13.01.2022 New to the collection: In 2019 the Australian War Memorial acquired this sketch by Sergeant Frank Hodgkinson, who would in 1944 be appointed an Australian #OfficialWarArtist. It depicts part of Fort Khaim (Al Khaim), located near Merjayoun in Syria, which was, at the time of invasion, a Vichy French stronghold. The damage to the fort depicted in this sketch was likely caused by soldiers under the command Captain G B Connor (NX34870) of the Australian 2/33rd Division in the af...ternoon of 8 June 1941 one of the first actions of Operation Exporter. Artworks relating to Operation Exporter (June- July 1941) are very rare. It is believed that this sketch, along with three others acquired at the same time were once part of a sketchbook, the remainder of which was donated to the Memorial by the artist’s family in 1996 and can be viewed here: https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search. Image: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2676285 Frank Hodgkinson, ‘Fort Khaim Syria 1941’ (1941, pencil, charcoal, gouache, and watercolour on paper, 27 x 37.2 cm), AWM AWM2019.803.1. #OperationExporter #Syria #AustralianArmedForces #AWM #AWMemorial #AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #Charcoal #Art #SecondWorldWar #WW2 #MyAWM

13.01.2022 The People’s Choice Award for the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 goes to Gary Ramage for his work, 'Afghan diggers’ ghosts at the AWM' (2020). Gary receives a cash prize of $5000. Congratulations, Gary! Read his artist statement here: https://www.awm.gov.au//2020-Napier-Waller-Art-Prize/Afghan ... Thanks to everyone who voted and all the artists who entered this year. The Napier Waller Art Prize is open to former and current Australian Defence Force personnel. It encourages artistic excellence, promotes the transformative power of creativity, and raises awareness of the experiences and talent of service personnel.

13.01.2022 'I weep for all who have been lost from our Grandmothers over the years since the invasion and rejoice in the strength of those Old Women who have been the stalwarts of our survival in war, so many Mothers lose their sons and grieve forevermore.' Maikutena Vicki-Laine Green (aka Vicki Matson-Green), April 2020 In 2019 the Australian War Memorial commissioned photographer Ricky Maynard (Ben Lomond and Cape Portland people, Tasmania) to create a series of photographs on the ...Furneaux Islands in the Bass Strait, with the aim of documenting the legacy of Aboriginal servicemen who left Country from Cape Barren Island and Flinders Island to fight in the First World War, three of whom did not return. His portrait series presents these servicemen’s descendants, the resulting body of work highlighting the impact of war on memory, and the continuing links between their ancestors who served and the land they marched out from. This exciting commission is now accessible via the online exhibition ‘The First World War 1914-1918: Our Island Heroes’ https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/our-island-heroes #FirstNations #FirstPeople #Aboriginalart #Indigenousart #Lutruwita #photography #portraits #NAIDOC2020 #alwayswasalwayswillbe #history #RickyMaynard #painting #memory #CapeBarren #Tasmainia

12.01.2022 To celebrate International Volunteer Day we are honouring Art at the Australian War Memorial’s own volunteer Maggie. Maggie has been volunteering with the art section for many years and is a well-known figure here at the Memorial. Here she is pictured next to her favourite diorama Semakh, with the beautiful backdrop painted by Alexander Mackenzie. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who contribute to the Australian War Memorial in so many ways. #IVD2020 #Togetherwecan #volunteers #AWMart #MyAWM #AWM Volunteering Australia

12.01.2022 #PosterFriday This poster was created by Cyril Bird (1887-1965) under the pseudonym ‘Fougasse’. The popular cartoonist took on the pseudonym in #WWI and continued producing posters under the name during #WWII. This poster is part of the ‘careless talk costs lives’ series, warning citizens to be vigilant of their conversations. The simple design and easily discernable message is indicative of Fougasse’s style, which prioritised humour in order to deliver the posters propaganda... message. This poster depicts a man talking in a red phone booth. The quote below the image pleads with the receiver to not tell anyone that he had told them, however the arch of listening ears peeping over the phone booth implies that it may be too late to withhold such information. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C102513 #PosterFriday #AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM #Propagandaposter #WW2 #AWM #AWMemorial #Fougasse

11.01.2022 WE HAVE FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!! NAPIER WALLER ART PRIZE HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL: 16 MAY 2021!!!!... MAKE SURE TO BOOK. https://www.awm.gov.au/visit And .. PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD CLOSES TOMORROW 22 NOV AT MIDNIGHT. The on-line exhibition features 31 finalist artworks and cash prize of $5,000. VOTE HERE: https://www.awm.gov.au/nwaphttps://www.awm.gov.au/nwap WINNER ANNOUNCED MONDAY 23rd NOV!!! Glen Braithwaite ‘Isolation’, 2020, digital photograph, 40 x 60 cm Image courtesy of the artist

10.01.2022 #posterfriday This adorable poster was produced as part of the United Nations Year of the Child in 1979. It was designed and printed for the Union of Australian Women and then hand-screened at the Waterside Worker's Union, 60 Sussex Street Sydney. The poster was distributed to many countries. It won a prize in Germany and was used on the cover of a peace magazine.... Image: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C304661 #banthebomb #cnd #UN #poster #screenprint #AWMart #MyAWM

10.01.2022 Today is international #askacurator day and Gina Fairley at ArtsHub has gotten off to a flying start, asking 20 Australian curators 20 questions about exhibitions, ethics and careers in the arts - including our Senior Curator of Art, Anthea Gunn: https://visual.artshub.com.au//20-questions-youve-always-w

10.01.2022 Curator of Art Elise Routledge presents #posterfriday for December with a selection of pop-culture influenced anti-war posters. This graphic flouro pink and black poster advertises a Christian anti-war conference at 'Vision Valley, Arcadia' in NSW where Dr. Jim Cairns MP and other Christian leaders, Alan Walker, Clive Norton, Alan Loy and Roger Pryke were speaking. Dr. Jim Cairns (19142003), was a fascinating and controversial figure in Australian public life. Cairns held ...the positions of Federal Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 19741975. He was an anti-war and social change activist, policeman, academic, parliamentarian and counter culture theorist. This poster is a great example of arresting poster design, using bold colours, moving lines and clear graphics to communicate its message. #posters #counterculture #anti-war #moratorium #parliamentarians #australianhistory #drjimcairns Image: Unknown, Untitled (Christian anti-war conference) c. 1972, screenprint on paper 50.2 x 37.2 cm, ARTV00869

09.01.2022 Install starts tomorrow at #orangeregionalmuseum For the travelling exhibition Hearts and Minds Wartime Propaganda. Opens to the public 26th Nov and runs through to 14 March 2021 #AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM #wartimepropaganda

09.01.2022 #Onthisday in 1945 a photograph was taken of Daughters of Mary Immaculate (Ferreira Maria Immaculata FMI) Sisters in the recently liberated internment camp in the Ramale Valley, New Britain. In 2018 contemporary artist Lisa Hilli discovered the image during her research at the Memorial, while undertaking an exchange Asia Pacific artist residency to explore the #WW2 histories of Australia and her homeland East New Britain. Recently Lisa spoke to Australian War Memorial’s writ...er Claire Hunter about her research and the women in this photograph who inspired her new artwork for the collection: https://www.awm.gov.au//Artist-Lisa-Hilli-and-the-FMI-Sist Lisa Hilli’s commission was supported by the Australian Government's Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund. #LisaHilli #MyAWM #AWMemorial #EastNewBritain #Gunatuna #Tolai #Rabual #prisonersofwar #SWW75 #OTD #WW2 #SecondWorldWar #Ramale #Vunapope #PapuaNewGuinea #PNG #Knowmyname #bowdown #art #photograohy #installationart #artistresidency #AnzacCentenaryArtsCultureFund Image: AWM 096864

09.01.2022 Collectively the Lindsay brothers are perhaps the most well-known Australian family of artists of the 20th century. Percy, Lionel, and Norman became prolific artists, all based in Sydney. This wonderful example of Norman’s superb draughtsmanship is entitled ‘Then he Galloped Madly Off in All Directions’ and was created around 1944. It depicts a very confused-looking Adolf Hitler sitting atop a very worn-out, haggard horse standing and staring at a signpost with arrows to the ...various fronts pointing in completely different directions. 1944 was the beginning of the end for the Axis Powers: Italy had surrendered in the previous year and the war on multiple fronts was draining their resources. Image: Norman Lindsay, Then He Galloped Madly Off in All Directions, c.1944, brush, pen, ink, and carbon pencil on paper, ARTC00053 #AWM #AWMArt #NormanLindsay #Lindsaybrothers #sketch #Art #AustralianWarMemorial #WW2 #WWII #SecondWorldWar #Horse

08.01.2022 NAPIER WALLER ART PRIZE WINNER 2020 We are proud to announce Matt Jones. as the winner of the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 for his work titled 'Yarn' Matt receives a $10,000 cash prize, a two-week research residency in the Art Section at the Memorial, and a mentoring session with eX de Medici, former official war artist. 'Yarn' will also be acquired into the National Collection.... The Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 is now on display Australian War Memorial showcasing the 17 Highly Commended artworks. Congratulations again Matt and all other Highly Commended artists. BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/visitor-information To view the online exhibiton https://www.awm.gov.au/Napier-/2020-Napier-Waller-Art-Prize

08.01.2022 #PosterFriday The Greenham Common Royal Air Force base was a joint British and United States base located in the United Kingdom. The base was active during the Cold War, and in 1981 36 women chained themselves to the fence of the base in protest of the Nuclear Weapons stored there. They established the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp which remained at the base until 2000. The Camp had a global influence, and feminist artists such as Toni Robertson drew inspiration from t...he protests. This poster, designed by Toni Robertson and produced by the Déja vu print workshop, reads The first women’s peace camp was set up in September 1981 at Greenham Common, Berkshire, where NATO has since sited US Cruise missiles. The camp has been a catalyst in the growth of opposition, both in the UK and abroad, to the escalation of nuclear arms. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2141453 #PosterFriday #AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM #AWM

06.01.2022 Napier Waller Art Prize SIX days to go till the Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 opens at the Australian War Memorial and the winner announced on the 24 September!!!! Make sure to vote for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD. The on-line exhibition features 31 finalist artworks and cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020.... VOTE NOW: https://www.awm.gov.au/nwaphttps://www.awm.gov.au/nwap #napierwallerartprize#AustralianWarMemorial #AWMArt #MyAWM Katrina Black, Tentacity, 2020, watercolour on paper, 68.5 x 97.5 cm.

04.01.2022 Congratulations again to Matt Jones for winning the Napier Waller Art Prize last night! Matt shares his story about his difficult transition from military to civilian life in this article, and how his winning artwork, 'Yarn' is a metaphor for the connections, compassion and insights he found along the way. https://www.awm.gov.au//Matt-Jones-wins-Napier-Waller-Art-

04.01.2022 NAPIER WALLER ART PRIZE 2020 on line exhibition The exhibition features 31 finalist artworks. Vote now for the People’s Choice award, a cash prize of $5,000. The online exhibition closes on the 22 November 2020. Winner announced the week of the 23 November 2020. VOTE NOW:... https://www.awm.gov.au/Napier-/2020-Napier-Waller-Art-Prize Kel Clarke, Resilience, 2019, acylic on canvas, 30.5 x 76 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

02.01.2022 For followers in #qld the Australian War Memorial's travelling exhibition 'Hearts & Minds: Wartime propaganda' is now on display at Ipswich Art Gallery until 15th November - and looking fabulous! #propaganda #exhibition #posters #posters #ww2 #ww1 #ipswichartgallery #iagpresents #Queensland #schoolholidays