Braving Time: Contemporary Art in Queer Australia
EXHIBITIONS
Braving Time: Contemporary Art in Queer Australia curated by Richard Perram OAM
3 February – 18 March 2023
NAS Galleries
Monday to Saturday
11am – 5pm
Free admission
Artists
Tony Albert, Brook Andrew, Liam Benson, Vivienne Binns, Leigh Bowery, Gary Carsley, Michelle Collocott, Peter Cooley, Christine Dean, Karla Dickens, Todd Fuller, Amos Gebhardt, Tina Havelock Stevens, Brenton Heath-Kerr, Kate Just, Deborah Kelly, MO’JU, Clinton Naina, Nell, Claudia Nicholson, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Emily Parsons-Lord, Troye Sivan, Ali Tahayori, Salote Tawale, Renjie Teoh, Athena Thebus, Dr Christian Thompson AO, Tim Silver, Matthew van Roden, and William Yang.
Image: Amos Gebhardt, Family Portrait, 2020
Braving time is a queer exhibition that celebrates the work of artists who identify as part of the Australian LGBTIQA+ community. This significant exhibition has been curated by Richard Perram OAM for the National Art School in celebration of Sydney WorldPride in 2023. The artists represented in the exhibition celebrate the diverse voices of LGBTIQA+ people in contemporary Australia society, reflecting the breath of genders and sexualities within the community, including artists who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, inter-sex, asexual and non-binary.
The artists present artworks that explore queerness in ways that are direct and indirect through historical and contemporary artworks that are critical, experimental and political, connecting to our contemporary culture. Together these works instigate conversations about queer experience; what it is and what it means to be queer in Australia today.
Athena Thebus, Bunny, 2021 (photographer: Zan Wimberley)
The Australian LGBTIQA+ community naturally reflects the cultural diversity of Australian contemporary society and this is mirrored in the artists selected. Central to the exhibition are works by Australian Indigenous artists Karla Dickens and Tony Albert. Artists from diverse cultural heritages include William Yang and Renjie Teoh, Claudia Nicholson, Salote Tawale, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran sitting alongside artists of Anglo-European heritage.
The key themes and connections that flow and overlap through this exhibition are rich and complex and represent issues that have been and remain central, to LGBTQIA+ lived experience including Our Queer Ancestors, Queer Worthies, Death and History, Feminist Expression, Family and Community, Maleness and Power, Humour, Gender and Sexuality.
Together the artists in Braving Time acknowledge the many struggles, the deep sadnesses as well as the triumphs of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ communities over time. The exhibition highlights that queerness is intersectional and it creates parallel conversations about the new histories that are emerging and leading debate, whilst capturing the optimism of change, of acceptance and the pure joy that will be felt by all during the Sydney WorldPride celebrations in 2023.
Kate Just, installation view of “Protest Signs” at Hugo Michell Gallery, 2022
...and that`s a wrap! Congratulations to all our Year 11 Visual Arts students who participated in the 2025 HSC Intensive program, Module 2.
We loved welcoming you to our campus for the last five days of creativity and hard work.
Best wishes for all your future endeavours as budding artists. We can`t wait to see what you create next.
Oct 7
Fondly remembered by a generation of TV viewers as the creator of `Mr Squiggle`, Norman Hetherington OAM (1921-2010) was a student at the National Art School from 1937-1941.
Co-scripted by his wife, Margaret, `Mr Squiggle` ran on the ABC for 40 years becoming the longest running children’s TV program in the world.
Norman Hetherington’s daughter Rebecca Hetherington co-hosted Mr Squiggle and in 2002 helped her father with his first solo exhibition (curated by NAS alumna Toni Warburton) at the Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre in the Blue Mountains.
Rebecca donated many of Norman’s works to the NAS Collection, including his poster (designed and painted when he was 17 years old) for the first known film by NAS students. `Love Laughs at Death` screened at NAS from 30 September-5 October 1938, and while the film itself has been lost, a photo and newspaper article about it were kept by actor and NAS alumna Shirley Jones.
The National Museum of Australia in Canberra (@nationalmuseumofaustralia) is showing the free exhibition `Mr Squiggle and Friends` until October 13.
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Norman Hetherington
(1921-2010)
NAS student 1937-1938; 1939-1941
`Mr Squiggle`, etching, 12 x 9.5 cm, Gift of Rebecca Hetherington, 2023, National Art School Collection
Photographer unknown. Students Jim Swan, Shirley Jones and Jack Edwards from the film `Love Laughs at Death`, made and screened at NAS in 1938. This photograph was displayed on the front page of ‘The Labor Daily’, 3 September 1938. Jim Swan was the producer, Shirley Jones an actor, as was Jack Edwards who played the ‘Crazy Scientist’.
`Love Laughs at Death`, 1938 , gouache on cardboard, 63 x 55 cm , Gift of Rebecca Hetherington, 2020, National Art School Collection
`Screws`, 1937, ink on card, 11.5 x 12 cm, Gift of Rebecca Hetherington, 2022, National Art School Collection
`Man in suit`, 1937, gouache on card, 32 x 14.5 cm, Gift of Rebecca Hetherington, 2022, National Art School Collection
`Colour for men`, gouache on paper, 38 x 27 cm, Gift of Rebecca Hetherington, 2022, National Art School Collection
Oct 5
Final weeks to visit The Neighbour at the Gate, closing Saturday 18 October.
Across various mediums and perspectives, The Neighbour at the Gate charts the entangled legacies of exclusion and resilience, drawing vital parallels between the past and present, memory and nationhood.
Learn more about the exhibition and plan your visit at the link in bio.
Please note: the gallery is closed for Labour Day Monday 6 October
Oct 3
Enjoy 20% off a Summer School Short Course with code FLASHSALE20
Don’t miss this exclusive 20% off flash sale on the National Art School Summer School Short Courses (link in bio). Flash Sale starts right now and ends midnight Monday 6 October.*
*Offer begins midday Friday 3 October and ends midnight Monday 6 October. Terms and conditions apply.
Oct 3
We are pleased to share the exciting news that we are introducing a new BFA (Hons) degree at the National Art School in 2026.
The Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) is an intensive one-year program designed for graduates of the BFA who are ready to deepen their studio practice and expand their academic and professional capabilities. This course is ideal for emerging artists who want to refine their practice, build industry connections, and prepare for postgraduate study or professional opportunities in the creative sector.
New scholarships will be available to students entering the BFA (Hons), with further details to be shared later this year. For more information and key dates, visit futurestudents.nas.edu.au (link in bio).
Oct 2
Join us for free 18+ concert `Afterglow` – The Neighbour at the Gate exhibition closing party.
Headlined by Miss Kaninna, the event features performances by HYLANDER, Rocky Stallone, BRINA, Kuya Hennessy, and DJ Court Jester. RSVP today as tickets are going fast!
Afterglow
Thursday 16 October
Doors: 4.30pm
Concert starts: 7.00pm
Cell Block Theatre, National Art School
Please note: if the Cell Block reaches capacity, you’re welcome to enjoy the concert from the courtyard until space opens up inside. Food trucks and pop up bar.
FREE ADMISSION, RSVP is essential due to limited capacity (link in bio)
Oct 1
