Watt Space Gallery

The University Galleries acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this information may contain images or names of people who have since passed away.


CURRENT EXHIBITION

Artwork of man in flowing dress with artistic head wear elements

IMAGE: Damien Frost, Marco Tullio Siviglia at Clerkenwell, London 2023 Digital image.

NIGHT FLOWERS
Damien Frost at Watt Space

25 September - 07 November 2026

Night Flowers is, at its core, an exhibition about the relationship between photography and self-presentation: the collaborative, sometimes theatrical process through which photographer and subject arrive together at an image.

Night Flowers is, at its core, an exhibition about the relationship between photography and self-presentation: the collaborative, sometimes theatrical process through which photographer and subject arrive together at an image.

For this exhibition, Damien Frost has been commissioned to create a new, locally focused body of work documenting members of Newcastle and the wider region’s drag, queer and cabaret communities. Produced in dialogue with the original Night Flowers, these new portraits extend explorations into identity, performance and belonging. Together, the two bodies of work consider how place as a protagonist, shapes performance and community – and self-representation. In bringing these works into conversation, Night Flowers reflects on photography’s capacity to both document and participate in the continual making of selfhood.

Nightflowers by Damien Frost is presented as part of City of Newcastle's New Annual Festival, 2026 at Watt Space Gallery. Damien Frost in residence for Nightflowers is supported by The Lock Up.

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Renae Lamb (Wiradjuri/Wongaibon), Pumngarrawan (detail), 2023, acrylic on canvas, AA2023.44