Join us for a dynamic program of public events at the National Art School to celebrate the opening of our major exhibition The Neighbour at the Gate.
Opening during NAIDOC week, the public program will take place over two days, Friday 11 and Saturday 12 July.
Saturday 12 July
8pm – 10.30pm
Cell Block Theatre
Ticketed, 18+
You are warmly invited to join us for an industry day, focused on artist talks and art making opportunities. Hear directly from the guest curatorium and the featured artists in The Neighbour at the Gate exhibition, charts the entangled legacies of exclusion and resilience, drawing vital parallels between the past and present, memory and nationhood.
Create a ceramic work to add to James Nguyen’s participatory installation artwork Homeopathies_where new trees grow (2025), or make a fabric tassel inspired by Jacky Cheng’s work Imaginary Homelands (2025). Learn more about the shared histories and stories behind this immersive exhibition.
Friday 11 July
10am – 10.30am
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome
Friday 11 July
10.45am – 11.15am
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome
Friday 11 July
11.30am – 12pm
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome
Friday 11 July
12.15pm – 12.45pm
Gallery Green
Free admission, all welcome
Friday 11 July
2pm – 2.30pm
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome
Friday 11 July
NEW TIME 2.45pm – 3.15pm
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome
Friday 11 July
3.15pm – 3.45pm
Chapel Ground Floor
Free admission, all welcome
Join us from 11am until 3pm for a fun-filled day of family friendly, free creative activities. See the exhibition, participate in artmaking and mindfulness sessions led by Madina Yoga, and enjoy drop-in workshops facilitated by art educators, inspired by the artworks in the exhibition. Explore a range of mediums including ceramics, textiles and printmaking inspired by the work of exhibiting artists Jacky Cheng, Dennis Golding, James Nguyen and Jason Phu. Visitors can contribute a clay piece to the exhibition and take away their own textile tassel or hand printed tote bag at the end of the day.
From 12pm – 1pm, hear directly from the exhibiting artists and curators in a free panel talk, unpacking the themes of the exhibition.
After a day of artmaking and artist talks, join us for an evening of free DJ sets outdoors, with DJ Rocky Stallone, Sveta and Mason Kimber and food and beverages from 5pm. Closing out the Opening Weekend celebrations is our major program event, the Shared Skies Music Concert in the historic Cell Block Theatre, with live performances from BARKAA, Rainbow Chan and DJ Rocky Stallone (ticketed event, bookings essential).
Alongside our special celebrations and activities, the NAS Gallery will be open for extended hours until 8pm.
Saturday 12 July
11am – 11.30am & 2pm – 2.30pm
Building 25 Project Space
Free admission, all welcome
Saturday 12 July
11am – 8pm
Campus wide
Free admission, all welcome
Saturday 12 July
12pm – 1pm
Cell Block Theatre
Free admission, all welcome
Saturday 12 July
8pm – 10.30pm
Cell Block Theatre
Ticketed, 18+
Congratulations to NAS alumni/staff Jane Burton, Gerwyn Davies, Ella Dreyfus, Izabela Pluta, Ali Tayahori, Justine Varga, and Kai Wasikowski, finalists of the Bowness Photography Prize 2025.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Prize. Visit @maph_photography before 9 November to view the artworks in person.
---
1) Jane Burton, ‘Snakes and ladders’, 2024, pigment ink-jet print, 42 x 33 cm, collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist and Bett Gallery (Hobart)
2) Gerwyn Davies, ‘Trick mirror’, 2024, pigment ink-jet print, 120 x 100 cm, collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist, Jan Murphy Gallery (Brisbane) and Michael Reid Galleries (Sydney + Berlin)
3) Ella Dreyfus, ‘Liminal body’, 2025, chromogenic print, 150 x 100 cm, collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist
4) Izabela Pluta, ‘Coral study / Seepage (mirage)’, 2025, from the series Undulations, gelatin silver prints, 36 x 31.5 cm (each), collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Sally Dan Cuthbert (Sydney)
5) Ali Tayahori, ‘Sisterhood (Broken)’, 2025, from the series Archive of longing, UV print on glass, hand-cut glass, silicone on aluminium, 62 x 62 x 4 cm, collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist and THIS IS NO FANTASY (Melbourne)
6) Justine Varga, ‘Time immemorial (126,749 years)’, 2024–2025, chromogenic print, 190 x 76 cm, collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist, Tolarno Galleries (Melbourne) and Hugo Michell Gallery (Adelaide)
7) Kai Wasikowski, ‘The bees and the ledger: N.B (scenes 1–27)’, 2024, from the series The bees and the ledger, ink-jet prints, 38 x 38 cm, collection of the artist, courtesy of the artist
Aug 25
Congratulations Genevieve Felix Reynolds @genevievefelixreynolds, the 2026 recipient of the The British School at Rome Residency.
This residency offers the opportunity to live and work in Rome for 3 months, in an interdisciplinary research community. The British School at Rome is a centre of interdisciplinary research excellence in the Mediterranean supporting the full range of arts, humanities and social sciences, and the residency has been made possible through the generosity of our donors, particularly Jennifer Dowling. The British School at Rome is just north of Rome’s historic centre in the Valle Giulia which separates the Parioli district from the Borghese Gardens.
Applications for 2027 residencies will open early next year. Find more information about all of NAS` International Residencies on the NAS website.
—
Genevieve Felix Reynolds, Godmode, 2025, polymer on velvet, 150 x 109cm
Aug 24
Announcing the 2026 recipients of the Onslow Storrier NAS Residency, a three-month studio residency at La Cité Internationale des Arts Paris, awarded to a National Art School Graduate or Academic Staff Member and made possible through the generosity of Annette Onslow and Tim Storrier.
January – March: Mungo Howard @mungo_howard
April – June: Ali Tahayori @alitahayori
July – September: Corey Black @corey_max_black
October – December: Chelsea Lehmann @chelseajlehmann
A residency at the Onslow Storrier National Art School Paris Studio presents each artist with the opportunity to evolve their practice in one of the great centres of artistic excellence. The studio is located on the Right Bank in Rue de L’Hôtel de Ville in the 4th arrondissement overlooking the river Seine, near many commercial and public galleries and only a short walk to Notre Dame Cathedral. There are 270 studios that house artists, musicians and writers from around the world.
Applications for 2027 residencies will open early next year. Find more information about all of NAS` International Residencies on the NAS website.
—
Mungo Howard, Profile, 2025, found material and tacks in steel frame, 36 x 31 cm.
Ali Tahayori, Our house is on fire, 2023, video installation, six minor panels, hand-cut mirrors, plaster and wood, each panel 100 cm x 90 cm video component (4 minutes duration)
Corey Black, Malignant Recipe, 2025, digital print on lustre, laser cut and welded Perspex, 45 × 18 × 4.5 cm. Documentation: Jessica Maurer
Chelsea Lehmann, Field Remains, 2025, Oil and wax on linen, 97 × 107 cm
Aug 23
What`s happening at the National Art School on 6 September? RSVP to our Open Day today to find out. (Link in bio)
Aug 22
Hear artist James Nguyen (@jamesnguyens) discuss the process of his artwork ‘Homeopathies_where new trees grow’ (2025), a site-specific installation created for The Neighbour at the Gate, now on at NAS Gallery.
In response to the exhibition, Nguyen created a large-scale suspended textile, dyed with introduced weeds and contaminated mud collected along the Duck River and Parramatta River in Sydney. These local sites, like many places in Vietnam, continue to be contaminated by Agent Orange, dioxins and toxic leachates that account for the industrial scale manufacturing of chemical weapons along Homebush Bay.
The Naarm/Melbourne-based, Vietnamese Australian artist positions his personal experiences and perspectives in dialogue with others in his interdisciplinary practice, moving between live and online performance, video, drawing and installations. This work was made in conjunction with Nguyen’s aunt, Nguyễn Thị Kim Nhung, and uncle, Nguyễn Công Chính, who you can hear in conversation with the artist in the Artist Talks archive on our website.
The Neighbour at the Gate is now on until Saturday 18 October 2025. 11am – 5pm, Monday to Sunday. Plan your visit at the link in bio.
The Neighbour at the Gate has been made possible with the generous support of the NSW Government through its Blockbusters Funding initiative.
Aug 21
Don’t miss the last chance to enrol in a ceramics workshop at NAS in 2025.
Places are still available in three ceramics Spring Weekend Workshops with incredible artist-educators Trisha Dean, Tania Rollond and Sassy Park.
Early discount extended to 29 August, enrol today at the link in bio.
Aug 21
