The University Gallery, Senta Taft Hendry Museum and Watt Space Gallery
University Gallery
For over 25 years, the University Gallery has been a site for cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange, championing creative thinking and critical engagement, presented in contemporary exhibitions that engage and inspire.
Located at our Callaghan Campus on Awabakal Country, we exhibit artwork from a wide range of artistic practices and artists, including work from our staff and students, from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists as well as local and interstate creatives.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Malang – Indigenous Hunter Artists
30th May – 12th July 2025
Step into the world of Malang, an extraordinary exhibition that celebrates the rich cultural heritage and artistic prowess of Indigenous Hunter Artists.
This captivating exhibition brings together a diverse collection of artworks from 12 artists hailing from the Wonnarua, Worimi, and Awabakal areas. Through vibrant paintings, intricate carvings, and evocative multi-media, Malang offers a unique insight into the traditions, stories, and spirituality that have been passed down through generations.
Each piece in this exhibition is a testament to the resilience and creativity of Indigenous communities, highlighting their profound relationship with nature and the environment. Visitors will be immersed in a visual journey that explores themes of identity, survival, and the enduring spirit of the Hunter. Malang not only honours the artistic achievements of these talented individuals but also serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving and respecting Indigenous cultures.
Join us in celebrating the beauty and significance of Indigenous Hunter Artists at Malang. This exhibition promises to be an enlightening and inspiring experience.
IMAGE: Carissa Paglino Malang – Together 2015, mixed media (design based on original artwork by Saretta Fielding)
Recent exhibition – Mark Ryan PhD Exhibition – Dig Baby Dig
17 April – 24 May 25
Dig Baby Dig is an exhibition that interrogates the enduring impact of colonialism on the land, using Newcastle and the Hunter Valley as case studies. Through sculpture, installation and sound, the work explores industrial extraction, Indigenous dispossession and environmental degradation, urging reflection on how we relate to land and legacy.
At its core is an irregular dodecagon — an unstable, shape-shifting form resisting rigid colonial boundaries. A 46-metre sculptural line, rendered in rolled sheet metal and painted Day-Glo orange, traces an abstraction of the Hunter River, symbolising its transformation from a life-sustaining force to a vehicle for industrial commerce. Coal pieces, arranged in dodecagonal formations reinforce the region’s history as a site of extraction.
By confronting colonial and capitalist frameworks, Dig Baby Dig invites viewers to reconsider the commodification of land and the histories embedded within it, challenging the illusion of separation between past, present, and future.
Recent exhibition – Speaking in Colour, Cultural Resurgence
27 November 2024 – 5 April 2025
Speaking in Colour's resurgence programs create opportunities for Aboriginal students and community members to learn about Aboriginal cultural practices like weaving and Possum Skin Cloak making.
Cultural Resurgence is an annual celebration of the work produced in these programs. 2024's edition showcases 14 projects, involving 1200 youth, 150 adults, and including 7 preschools, 4 public schools, Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Lands council, Walangu Muru centre at Macquarie University, and the Miti Nukang in Colour Artist Collective.
The artworks on display are inspired by traditional methodologies and knowledges, creating a contemporary public artwork and ensuring cultural safety for all. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island youth and adults who participate in resurgence programs are hungry for connection and to have opportunity to learn these cultural practices. What you see in this exhibition is a celebration of their needs and ideas coming together in a display of empowerment.
Recent exhibition – Emptiness Adorned
In his work, Ben Kenning's creates a realm where absence and presence are interwoven in a delicate interplay between form and void. Emptiness Adorned, a showcase of Kenning's work, invited viewers to see the beauty within the void of his work and to find meaning in the spaces between, thereby offering a mediation of the nature of being.
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The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.