Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

The annual Narryna Garden Fair is back tomorrow, Saturday 2 November and this year will feature a range of local growers specialising in unusual plants. 🍃🌿🌱

🗓️ Saturday 2 November
⏱️ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
📍 Narryna Heritage Museum
🎟️ $5 entry. All funds raised will support the Narryna garden!

Refreshments will be available to purchase at the Narryna kitchen 🌿

https://facebook.com/events/s/garden-fair/500449482982383/

We are on the lookout for our next Young Collector! Our popular Young Collector’s display has featured a variety of collections in the past including glass bottles, fossils, sea glass, dragons, sheep tags, bones and dominoes! If you know a Young Collector with an interesting collection they may like to display at TMAG, you can learn more details about the program on our website and find our online application form at https://form.jotform.com/201900668048051

Image details: Young Collectors displays (1-2) Harry’s ‘Fern Tree Firebreak Bottles’, (3-4) Finn and George’s ‘Fossils Rock', (5) Kiara’s 'Wildlife Wonders'.

This weekend, join us for the final session of our Quiet Draw series.

Join a TMAG art guide for a relaxed opportunity to sit and draw in an exhibition space. Use TMAG's pencils and paper or bring your own drawing book and pencil.

🗓 Sunday 27 October
🕖 1:30 - 3:00 pm
🔖 Tickets: FREE! Drop in, no bookings required

Meet in 'Dispossessions and Possessions' and 'Not So Easy’. Ask our friendly staff for directions on the day.

Suitable for all ages.

It’s the final days to visit 'Lands of Light: Lloyd Rees and Tasmania' which closes at TMAG this Sunday, 27 October.

Lloyd Rees (1895-1988), is one of the most the revered Australian landscape artists of the 20th century and this major exhibition celebrates his work, particularly those painted in Tasmania between 1967 and 1988. A recent addition to the exhibition is a gallery focusing on Rees’s late lithographs. As with his late paintings, in these prints, Rees’s focus is light as it is transmitted by the sun and reflected in the material of the landscapes.

Image details: Lands of Light: Lloyd Rees and Tasmania – Late Lithographs, installation view.

“It’s very interesting this whole question of my identity because I spent all my childhood trying to blend in.” - Helene Chung Martin, fourth generation Chinese Tasmanian.

What does it mean to belong? It is unique for everyone. In the ‘Home: Here and Now’ exhibition, now open at TMAG, Chinese Tasmanians reflect on their lives, their culture, and their heritage. And whilst each story is different, together they tell a much greater story of a place we all call home.

‘Home: Here and Now’ is open in the Salon Gallery at TMAG, Tue-Sun 10am-4pm. Admission is free.

Supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations 澳中基金会

Image details: 1 Helene Chung Martin pictured with her childhood teddy bear, ‘Home: Here and Now’, photo: Rosie Hastie / 2 ‘Home: Here and Now’, installation view, photo: Rosie Hastie.

Don’t miss the first ever exhibition exploring award-winning landscape artist Lloyd Rees’s connection to lutruwita/Tasmania which is closing at TMAG on 27 October. This major exhibition celebrating the work of Lloyd Rees (1895-1988) now includes a new gallery of works, ‘Lloyd Rees: Late Lithographs’.

Open Tue - Sun, 10am - 4pm. Free admission.

Images: 1-3 Lands of Light: Lloyd Rees and Tasmania, installation views. Photography: Rosie Hastie / 4 Lands of Light: Lloyd Rees and Tasmania – Late Lithographs, installation view.

TMAG are presenting a range of FREE talks, tours and workshops this week for COTA (Council On The Ageing) Tasmania Seniors Week 2024. Check the events section on our website for more details and to book your spot (spaces are limited, some events are fully booked).

15 October: Drawing Workshop – FULLY BOOKED
15 October: The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery's Historic Buildings Seniors Week Talk
15 October: Conserving Art for Future Generations Seniors Week Talk
16 October: Volunteer Guiding at TMAG Seniors Week Talk
17 October: ningina tunapri Seniors Week Tour
18 October: The Luck of the Draw: Convict Women in Private Assignment Seniors Week Talk – FULLY BOOKED

We have been having a ‘whale of a time’ these school holidays! 🐋 🐳 Thank you to everyone who helped create the life-size whale paper mosaic in Central Gallery - it looks spectacular!

There are still plenty of FREE activities at TMAG to see out the spring school holidays.

Visit the reimagined Islands to Ice exhibition and explore the astonishing wonders of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic region. Find fun surprises in the 2.8 metre long LEGO model of icebreaker RSV Nuyina created by Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught (on loan from ).

Admire the creativity and colour of the banner artwork from 15 Tasmanian school groups on display around TMAG’s city block and explore mapiya lumi | around here, TMAG’s gallery for children 0-7 years.

There’s so much to discover at TMAG. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Together with Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), we are thrilled to introduce the creative team for the next Hobart Current exhibition, running from November 2025 to April 2026.

For the first time, a Tasmanian creative director has been appointed, with Travis Tiddy and Denise Robinson sharing the role. Travis, well-known for leading The Unconformity festival, joins Denise, the first palawa person to direct the exhibition.

Denise brings over 40 years of experience in arts management and is dedicated to promoting Aboriginal creative work in Tasmania.

The theme for Hobart Current 2026 is 'Here', and will feature up to 10 artists, including First Nations and Tasmanian artists. Artworks will be displayed at TMAG and in public spaces across Hobart.

Artists can now submit expressions of interest to be part of this exciting exhibition. For more information visit: https://hobartcurrent.com/here/



[Image of Travis and Denise on Hobart's waterfront, with the Hobart skyline in the background.]

TMAG would like to congratulate the exhibiting artists, First Peoples Art and Culture team, and everyone who assisted in the exhibition and ongoing project ‘taypani milaythina-tu: Return to Country’ which was recently recognised with three awards at the 2024 AMaGA Awards: ‘Exhibiting Excellence', 'First Nations Project' (joint), and ‘Best in Show’ (joint).

AMaGA's annual awards program is dedicated to celebrating, acknowledging, and showcasing achievement within Australia's museum and gallery sector.

‘taypani milaythina-tu: Return to Country’ featured the cultural belongings of Tasmanian Aboriginal ancestors loaned from national and international museums, galleries, archives and creative responses by twenty Tasmanian Aboriginal artists.

Ancestral cultural objects that travelled to Lutruwita for this ongoing project continue to be on long term loan to TMAG, towards ideally their eventual repatriation to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.

Image details: Julie Gough (project curator, and curator - First People's Art and Culture, TMAG) and Nicola Ingram (Tasmanian Aboriginal Learning Facilitator, TMAG) at the AMaGA Awards, Ballarat, September 2024. Image: Magnetic Shots / Janice Ross, 'nuritinga milaythina kani mana-mapali (Country holding our stories)', 2022, installation, mixed media. Image: Rosie Hastie.

Did you catch Senior Curator Cultural Heritage, Isobel Andrewartha on ABC Hobart Radio yesterday discussing this 'cover' (envelope with stamps) from TMAG's Cultural Heritage collection?

In 1853 it became law that you had to pre-pay for any letter you wanted to send by attaching stamps to them. Because it was going to take 8-10 months for the official stamps from England to get to Van Diemen’s Land, 'Courier' stamps were made locally to use in the interim. They are called Couriers because they were produced in the Courier newspaper offices. The image on the stamp is a depiction of Queen Victoria. This cover has four blue Courier stamps on it, which are still connected to each other. This was Van Diemen’s Land’s first ever stamp, and to see four used whilst still connected is extremely rare. You can listen to Isobel’s chat with Joel Rheinberger from approx. 1hr 41mins (accessed 2.10.24) https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-your-afternoon/tasmania-afternoons/104403186

Spring school holidays are in full swing at TMAG! 🐳 🐚🐋 ✨🐳 Until Friday 4 October, you can help create a life-size whale mosaic in Central Gallery between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Thank you to Senior Curator Invertebrate Zoology, Dr Simon Grove who joined us to share a range of shells from the TMAG collection 🐚 ✨🐚 From tomorrow (Thursday 3 Oct) Senior Curator of Cultural Heritage Isobel Andrewartha will be in Central Gallery for ‘Ask a Curator’ between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Check out the Street Banner Gallery, explore the reimagined Islands to Ice gallery, spot fun surprises in the amazing RSV Nuyina LEGO model, and visit mapiya lumi | around here, TMAG’s multi-sensory gallery for children 0-7 years. There’s so much to explore at TMAG these school holidays and admission is FREE.

Activities run on various days and times until 13 October. You can view the full program at https://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/whats_on/events. We look forward to seeing you soon! 🐳 ✨🐋

We would love your feedback! Help shape the future of TMAG’s exhibitions and offerings by taking part in our short online survey. You can complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TMAG2024 by COB Friday 4 October (5pm AEST).

Join us for some creative fun! ✍️ ✏️ pARTicipate is on again in October celebrating “International Big Draw” month. This workshop will focus on the aesthetic qualities of drawing, using techniques that allow for effective mark making across a range of styles. All levels catered for.

🗓️ Sunday 6 October 2024
⏰ 1:00 - 3:00 pm
🎟️ Tickets: $10.00

Suitable for ages 14+
All materials provided

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL. Book via https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1294221 (places are limited)

pARTicipate background image: John Glover, Sketchbook no 97 (detail) Collection: TMAG - Purchased with the assistance of Habart City Council, 1981.

We have plenty of fun, engaging and FREE activities for the whole family these school holidays!

Check out the reimagined Islands to Ice gallery, spot some fun surprises in the amazing RSV Nuyina LEGO model, meet some of TMAG’s curators, help create a life-size floor whale mosaic – and lots more!

Activities will run on various days and times across 28 September - 13 October 2024. You can view the full program at www.tmag.tas.gov.au/whats_on/events

Image details: ‘RSV Nuyina’ LEGO model by Ryan McNaught, on loan from the Australian Antarctic Division / S***m Whale Skull on display in Islands to Ice gallery / Detail of ‘Forest Beauties of the Beetle World’ display, Earth and Life gallery / Street Banner gallery (photo Amy Brown) / mapiya lumi | around here’ children’s gallery

The Friends of TMAG invite you to join them for their upcoming talk on the exhibition "Home: Here and Now". Register for your free spot at 👉 friendsoftmag.org.au/events

📅 Thursday 26 September
⏰ 10:30 am
📍 Central Gallery, TMAG
🎟 FREE

Home: Here and Now
What does it mean to belong?

Thursday 26 September, 10.30–11.30am
Central Gallery, TMAG (entry via Watergate)

As a background to the current popular exhibition Home: Here and Now, come and hear TMAG’s Senior Curator of Cultural Heritage, Isobel Andrewartha, discuss the process of developing the exhibition, and the Chinese Community Association of Tasmania’s President, Hingor Chung, discuss personal experiences of integration.

This is a FREE event and you are welcome to bring along non-member friends.

BOOK FOR HOME: HERE AND NOW

https://friendsoftmag.org.au/event-5860018

Did you catch Dr. Miguel de Salas from TMAG’s Tasmanian Herbarium chatting with Joel Rheinberger on ABC Hobart Radio last week? Here are some of the native Tasmanian purplestar (Isophysis tasmanica) specimens Miguel was discussing. Tasmanian purplestar is a paleoendemic iris that grows in western Tasmania and the Herbarium collections include specimens dating back to 1846. You can listen to Miguel’s chat with Joel from approx. 1hr 45mins at: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-your-afternoon/tasmania-afternoons/104288804 (link accessed 12.09.24).

Narryna’s ‘Secrets from the Collection’ series is back next Thursday 19 September with ‘Strings of History – The Narryna Violin’.

Renowned luthier and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra musician, Douglas Coghill will share his knowledge and expertise in the craft of violin making. Douglas will then join former QVMAG director Chris Tassell and historian Dr Elisabeth Wilson to conduct a Q&A session about the twists and issues of provenance research in museum collections.

The story of the Narryna violin, c.1840, which has a strong association with many families from the Sorell and Dunalley districts, will be discussed to highlight its fascinating history and the importance and complexities of its provenance. Guests will also be treated to performance by Steve and Marjorie Gadd founders of the Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble.

🗓️ Thursday 19 September 2024
⏰ 5.30pm - 7.30pm
📍 Narryna Pavilion, 103 Hampden Road, Battery Point
🎟️ Entry $20 includes a complimentary glass of wine sponsored by Bangor Vineyard.

Tickets via the Narryna website ww.narryna.com.au