News
Follow the latest updates, stories and projects unfolding across JCG and the Carrolup Centre for Truth-telling.
Regional Arts Triennial to showcase more than 40 artists from across regional WA at John Curtin Gallery
John Curtin Gallery is excited to announce an expansive new exhibition that combines the voices, stories and perspectives of more than 40 artists from across regional Western Australia.
New large-scale works from Christopher Pease and cinematic video from Reko Rennie highlight connection to Country at John Curtin Gallery
John Curtin Gallery presents two major exhibitions Christopher Pease: Terra Nullius and Reko Rennie: OA_RR on show from May 29 to August 23, 2026, bringing together powerful First Nations perspectives on history, identity and connection to Country.
Must-see exhibitions coming to John Curtin Gallery in 2026
The John Curtin Gallery’s 2026 program focuses on art as a catalyst for cultural exchange, critical reflection and future imagining. An exploration into global connections, First Nations perspectives and regional voices, the program invites audiences to engage with history, resilience and radical possibility.
Carrolup artwork rediscovered in 25-year-old trunk by Corrigin Historical Society
An artwork by a child of Australia’s Stolen Generations has been rediscovered in a 25-year old trunk at the Corrigin Pioneer Museum.
Kambarang 2025 at John Curtin Gallery
John Curtin Gallery visitors can explore the history of ceramics, enjoy the work of renowned Australian artists and discover hidden gems from the Ƶ Art Collection at three new exhibitions currently on display.
Perth Festival exhibitions reunite Indian Ocean histories, kinships, and voices fractured by colonisation
John Curtin Gallery will unite artists from across Australia, South Africa and Indonesia in a series of interrelated exhibitions that share the dynamic exchange of culture, language, song and story, as part of Perth Festival 2026.
Local leaders and Ƶ unite to explore Carrolup artworks as living history
Shire Presidents from Katanning, Kojonup and Gnowangerup joined representatives from the John Curtin Gallery for a guided tour and research discussion centred on the Carrolup artworks currently on display as part of the Once Known exhibition.
Events at John Curtin Gallery
Events at John Curtin Gallery
Join our mailing lists
Stay up-to-date on JCG and Carrolup news updates and event invitations.
Thanks for joining us 🫶
What an amazing opening night!
Our latest exhibition Regional Arts Triennial – Radical Futures brings together 49 artists to consider how regional communities imagine, make and care for the future.
Come and imagine bold new futures through the voices of regional Western Australia. ✨
Exhibition open until 6 December. Free entry, open to all.
🔗 More info via link in bio.
This project is made possible through the Regional Creative Industries Fund with support from the WA Government and delivered by @artonthe_move.
@southernforestarts @blbcreative @annalouiserichardson@perthartlist@universityartmuseumsaustralia@curtinlifeaustralia@curtinalumni@curtinuniversity@perth.art.seeker @regionalartswa @curtinbfagrads
Sneak peak at our upcoming exhibition!👀
Launching tomorrow, Regional Arts Triennial – Radical Futuresbrings together 49 artists to consider how regional communities imagine, make and care for the future.
Huge thanks to the artists, installers and collaborators who made it happen.💛
🔗 See you at our launch event tomorrow! Details via link in bio.
This project is made possible through the Regional Creative Industries Fund with support from the WA Government and delivered by ART ON THE MOVE.
@artonthe_move @southernforestarts @blbcreative @annalouiserichardson@perthartlist@universityartmuseumsaustralia@curtinlifeaustralia@curtinalumni@curtinuniversity@perth.art.seeker
Opening event! Regional Arts Triennial – Radical Futures✨
Join us for the opening event of our next exhibitionRegional Arts Triennial – Radical Futures.
🗓️ Thursday 17 September
📍John Curtin Gallery, Curtin Univeristy (Building 200A)
⏰5:30pm – 7:30pm (formalities from 6pm)
🙌Free event, open to the public.
🔗 RSVP via link in bio!
This exhibition brings together 49 artists to consider how regional communities imagine, make and care for the future. Their works reflect the specific conditions of place while also speaking to broader questions about how we live together, care for the environment and respond to an increasingly uncertain world.
We can’t wait to welcome this special exhibition with you!💛
The Regional Arts Triennial is a statewide program held every three years that celebrates the artists, stories and cultural voices of regional Western Australia while building connection, visibility and opportunity for regional arts communities.
This project is made possible through the Regional Creative Industries Fund with support from the WA Government and delivered by ART ON THE MOVE.
Image 1: Athena Shaw Boast and Matthew Darwen_Saving our beautiful Mammangs for the future2025_Photo By SharonBaker (detail).
Image 2: Martine Perret, Beneath Dark Skies – Magnetic Fields, 2025, video still, Duration 509 min (detail).
@artonthe_move @southernforestarts @blbcreative @annalouiserichardson
@perthartlist@universityartmuseumsaustralia@curtinlifeaustralia@curtinalumni@curtinuniversity@perth.art.seeker
We`re currently closed for install! 🛠️
JCG will open again on Friday September 18 to welcome a suite of amazing regional artists for Regional Arts Triennial – Radical Futures (@waregionalartstriennial).
Keep an eye on our social media for more details on what`s coming to JCG next exhibition season. 👀✨
🔗 More information via link in bio or on the JCG website.
John Curtin Gallery`s regular opening hours are Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm and Sunday 12pm – 4pm.
@curtinbfagrads @universityartmuseumsaustralia @perthartlist @curtinlife @regionalartswa @southernforestarts
It was a pleasure to have Christopher Pease: Terra Nullius and Reko Rennie: OA_RR at JCG! ✨
We hoped you enjoyed these two powerful exhibitions, exploring Country, identity, history and contemporary Aboriginal experience.
From Christopher Pease`s beautiful large-scale works and Reko Rennie’s phenomenal multi-channel videos, this was an unmissable exhibition season!
Thank you to everyone who visited, engaged with and supported these exhibitions. 💛
@chris_pease @rekorennie @gallerysmith_
@universityartmuseumsaustralia @curtinlifeaustralia @curtinalumni @curtinuniversity @perth.art.seeker @curtinbfagrads @perthartlist
Lester Prize highlight!🎨✨
Congratulations to Bachelor of Creative Arts (Fine Art) graduate Khashayar Salmanzadeh, whose portrait ‘A new garden’ has been selected as a finalist in the 2026 Lester Prize.
‘A new garden’ portrays Shireen, a Bahá’í woman of Iranian heritage, in her Melbourne suburban home.
Having fled Iran to escape intense religious persecution given her family’s Bahá’í identity, Shireen’s diasporic experiences run parallel with many young Australians today who possess a hybridised cultural identity.
Through the interweaving of abstracted Persian calligraphy within Shireen and her surroundings, the work explores the interplay between her home environment and inner world.
“For me, Shireen is a mirror of our contemporary spiritual reality whose character and life of diaspora sheds light on what it means to be human in a globalised world.” – Khashayar Salmanzadeh.
The 2026 Lester Prize Main Awards exhibition will be presented at WA Museum Boola Bardip from10 October – 29 November 2026.
CongratulationsKhashayar!💛
🎨 (Detail) Khashayar Salmanzadeh, A new garden, 2025. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 120 x 90 cm.
#LesterPrize#CurtinFineArt#CurtinUniversity#JohnCurtinGallery#WAArtists
@thelesterprize@wamuseum@curtin.humanities@curtin_mcasi
Lester Prize highlight!🎨✨
Congratulations to Curtin Humanities Honours student Yasamin Khadembashi, who has been selected as a finalist in the 2026 Lester Prize.
Yasamin’s reimagined self-portrait ‘Immoral Warrior’ is inspired by the Persian Pahlavan, the holy warrior and champion of Iranian folklore.
Rather than recreating a historical figure, the work imagines a new protagonist shaped by lived experience, cultural inheritance and imagination.
Adorned with sculptural piped oil paint, metal leaf, rhinestones and synthetic eyelash extensions, the portrait occupies a space between myth, portraiture and personal narrative while reimagining the traditionally masculine Pahlavan through a contemporary queer, feminist lens.
The 2026 Lester Prize Main Awards exhibition will be presented at WA Museum Boola Bardip from10 October – 29 November 2026.
Congratulations Yasamin!💛
🎨 Yasamin Khadembashi, Immoral warrior, 2026. Piped impasto oil paint, rhinestone, synthetic eyelash extensions and metal-leaf (copper, silver and gold) on linen, 197 x 101 cm.
#LesterPrize#CurtinFineArt#CurtinUniversity#JohnCurtinGallery#WAArtists
@thelesterprize@wamuseum@curtin.humanities@curtin_mcasi
Lester Prize highlight!🎨✨
Congratulations to first-year Fine Art studentLily Wilson-Nannup, whose portrait‘My memory of my Lolo’ has been selected as a finalist in the 2026 Lester Prize.
A deeply personal work born from Lily’s love for her grandmother, the portrait reflects on memory, family and the enduring influence of an extraordinary Noongar woman.
Lily’s grandmother was a printmaker, artist and Ƶ Fine Arts alumna, and is a significant voice in Stolen Generations truth-telling.
“She may not look the same as she once was but, in my head, when I look at her, I still see my Lolo.” –Lily Wilson-Nannup
Lily describes the fading background of the painting as a suggestion of memory, while placing her grandmother centre stage as a creative, strong, and proud Noongar woman.
The 2026 Lester Prize Main Awards exhibition will be presented at WA Museum Boola Bardip from10 October – 29 November 2026.
Congratulations to Lily on this outstanding achievement!💛
🎨 (Detail) Lily Wilson-Nannup, My memory of Lolo, 2026. Gouache, 53 x 78 cm.
#LesterPrize #CurtinFineArt #CurtinUniversity #JohnCurtinGallery #WAArtists
@thelesterprize @wamuseum @curtin.humanities @curtin_mcasi
Only ten days left 🫨
Two distinct practices, two powerful exhibitions — experience artworks fromleading Noongar artist@chris_pease and celebrated Kamilaroi/Gamilaroi artist@rekorennie
Plan your visit before these exhibitions leave JCG on Sunday23 August!
Open Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm and Sunday 12pm–4pm (closed Saturday.)
Free entry💛
#JohnCurtinGallery#PerthArts#PerthExhibitions#ContemporaryArt#NoongarArt RekoRennie ChristopherPease
@perthartlist@universityartmuseumsaustralia@curtinlifeaustralia@curtinalumni@curtinuniversity@perth.art.seeker@gallerysmith_@curtinbfagrads
Find out more via link in bio.🔗
An electrifying declaration of Aboriginal presence, pride and cultural authority. 👏
Presented together at John Curtin Gallery,OA_RR (2016–17) andInitiation OA_RR (2021) combine movement, sound and visual performance to explore ancestry, memory and the ongoing strength of Aboriginal identity.
InOA_RR, Rennie drives a hand-painted 1973 Rolls-Royce Corniche across Country, its camouflage design drawing from Kamilaroi diamond patterns. The work reflects on the legacy of colonisation, honouring his grandmother while asserting the continuing presence and resilience of Aboriginal culture.
InInitiation OA_RR, a metallic pink Holden Monaro moves through the working-class landscapes of Melbourne’s west, drawing connections between drag-racing culture, personal history and contemporary interpretations of First Peoples’ initiation practices.
Together, these works blur the boundaries between street performance and ceremony, transforming cars into symbols of memory, belonging and cultural authority.
Reko Rennie: OA_RR is on show at John Curtin Gallery until 23 August.
🔗 More info via link in bio!
@curtinbfagrads @rekorennie
JCG has a new four-legged friend! 🐾
It was wonderful to welcome guide dog in training Joy to the Gallery and watch her explore our latest exhibitions by @chris_pease and @rekorennie
Whether you’re visiting on two legs or four, you’re always welcome at John Curtin Gallery. 💛
Thanks for stopping by, Joy—we hope to see you again soon!
@guidedogswa @curtinlifeaustralia
Explore stories of sovereignty, resilience and enduring connection to Country.
Step inside and experience powerful exhibitions by leading Noongar artist @chris_pease and celebrated Kamilaroi/Gamilaroi artist @rekorennie.
🗓️On show |29 May – 23 August 2026.
🕛Open Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm and Sunday 12pm–4pm (closed Saturday!)
🎟️Free entry
#JohnCurtinGallery #PerthArts #PerthExhibitions #ContemporaryArt #NoongarArt RekoRennie ChristopherPease
@perthartlist@universityartmuseumsaustralia@curtinlifeaustralia@curtinalumni@curtinuniversity@perth.art.seeker@gallerysmith_@curtinbfagrads