Exhibitions

Current Exhibition

Dancer: a National Portrait Gallery touring exhibition

Final days | until 16 August 2025 | Ticketed

From letting loose in the loungeroom to enthralling audiences on stage, this National Portrait Gallery exhibition celebrates dance and dancers. Capturing the beauty of movement, self-expression and connection, the works on display in Dancer were collaboratively curated and choreographed by the National Portrait Gallery together with a group of local dancers.

The exhibition features 52 works from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of dance legends, including Irina Baronova, Robert Helpmann, Hélène Kirsova, Graeme Murphy, Gideon Obarzanek, Anna Pavlova, Marilyn Rowe and Janet Vernon.

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Dancer is a National Portrait Gallery touring exhibition, supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.

National Portrait Gallery Australian Government National Collecting Institutions Touring & Outreach Program

Image detail: Shane Reid, Jianna Georgiou 2024, inkjet print on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

Current Exhibition

Marlize de Klerk: Frisson in silence

Roman Room | 29 July – 30 August 2025 | Free exhibition

Marlize de Klerk’s ceramic practice explores memory, emotion, and sensory experience through sculptural porcelain vessels. Created through repetition, each piece becomes a site of quiet listening — attending to material, memory, and what is unspoken but felt. This meditative process allows unconscious traces to surface, embedding emotional resonance through time and touch. Informed by embodied practice and endurance-based making, her vessels draw on Walter Benjamin’s ‘aura,’ embodying presence through labour.

Each form in Frisson in silence holds a subtle charge — shaped through quiet acts of repetition, listening, and attention to material. Viewed as transitional objects, they bridge internal and external worlds. Rather than holding fixed narratives, they invite shared emotional reflection through their tactile surfaces and their presence.

Frisson in silence is proudly presented as part of the South Australian Living Artists Festival.

Details

Marlize de Klerk: Frisson in silence
29 July to 30 August 2024
Tuesday to Saturday 10:00am–4:00pm

Free entry (Roman Room and Foyer spaces only). Selected works displayed in Frisson in silence are available for purchase.
Entry to Dancer and tours of Fermoy House are separately ticketed.

Image: Marlize de Klerk, A fluttering 2025. Photograph: Michael Haines Photography

Future Exhibition

Best in Show 2025: Australian Photographic Dog Prize

30 August to 25 October 2025

Celebrating the many ways dogs continue to play a central role in our lives. A joyful exhibition and a moving tribute to the loyalty and beauty of dogs through the eyes of talented photographers across the country!

Entries were received from professional and amateur photographers, as well as young photographers (12─18 years old). Over 70 finalists’ photographs are exhibited in four distinct categories ─ dog portraits, dogs and companions, dogs in action, and puppies.

Established by DRG to recognise David Roche’s life in the canine world and Australia’s obsession with dogs, this inaugural prize offers a heartwarming view of our favourite pets and show dogs. Congratulations to all the finalists, and don’t miss the fully illustrated ‘dogalogue’ available during the exhibition. Book your visit online today, or walk-ins are also welcome.

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Image detail: Julie Brown, Look at that tongue, 2024 Courtesy of the artist