CAPTIVATE: Poetry Readings

Poetry Readings

CAPTIVATE: The National Art School and Darlinghurst Gaol

Saturday 24 September 3pm, NAS Gallery 

Commissioned poet, Dr. Saba Vasefi presents her poetic reflections on the hybrid form of imprisonment in response to the CAPTIVATE: The National Art School and Darlinghurst Gaol exhibition. Dr. Vasefi is a multi-award-winning scholar-journalist and documentary filmmaker who teaches at the University of Sydney, Macquarie University, and the University of Canberra. As a human rights journalist in Iran, she advocated for the rights of women and children on death row. In 2010, she fled the fundamentalist regime in Iran. Dr Vasefi has written three poems entitled Soliloquy, The Memory Orchard and The Keys in response to material in this exhibition including a Gaol photograph of manacles hanging from bars on a window, a “ Silence Please” sign, Two Hangman’s Ropes and 3 Iron Gaol Keys.

CAPTIVATE is a series of campus wide exhibitions and programs that acknowledge the rich history of both the National Art School which has been located on the site of the former Darlinghurst Gaol since 1922 and the incredible stories behind the Darlinghurst Gaol whose historic sandstone walls were commenced in 1822.

Staged across four gallery spaces on campus in September and October 2022, these exhibitions and programs thoughtfully acknowledge the wide-ranging aspects of the National Art School as an institution, including acknowledging the First Peoples, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and their continued connection to the land and site of NAS.

CAPTIVATE reveals some of the incredible stories ​‘behind the walls’ of the Darlinghurst Gaol and the National Art School, including infamous inmates such as the bushranger Captain Moonlite, through to the many famous artists that have shaped the National Art School over the past 100 years; its influential academic staff, life models, commercial and graphic designers, unsung women artists and of course the incredible legacy of its alumni, featuring many of Australia’s most significant artists.

Together these exhibitions and programs make a dynamic statement about the significance of the site, the history of the gaol and this incredible art school that supports the organisation in the present day, its leadership and centrality as a place for critical conversations to be developed about art and its importance to our understanding of the world around us.

Please advise us at marketing@​nas.​edu.​au if you have special needs regarding access.