FREE | 2026 Annual Lecture: Australian art: who decides? With Professor Lisa Slade
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Free, bookings essential.
Duration: 75 mins
Live Stream & On-site
Thu 1 Oct 2026, 6.30pm
James Fairfax Theatre
https://nga.gov.au/events/2026-annual-lecture/
Join us for an Australian art lecture that started with the discovery of a t-shirt in the archive of the late Australian artist Ann Newmarch, and is now held in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia. The t-shirt carries the provocation: 'AUSTRALIAN ART? WHO DECIDES?'. In wearing this t-shirt, Newmarch, a leading Feminist figure, was questioning the canon.
In this lecture Professor Lisa Slade, Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History at the University of Melbourne, continues Newmarch’s enquiry – carrying it forward into a contemporary reckoning with Australian art and its histories. Along the way, Slade positions the canon not as a fait accompli but as a work in progress. She challenges the audience to stake their claim in the art history game and calls upon special guest and 2026 Archibald Prize winner, Richard Lewer, to join her in a live confessional about Australian art, its histories and its future.
Image: Professor Lisa Slade. Installation view, Art Gallery of South Australia, featuring (left to right) Barbara Hepworth (artist), Head (Ra), 1971 Barbara Hepworth © Bowness; Jan van Os (artist), Flowers, c1780s; Michael Zavros (artist), The Phoenix, 2015 ©2026 Michael Zavros; Henri Fantin-Latour, Zinnias c.1897-99. Image supplied by speaker. Photo: Saul Steed Art Gallery of South Australia
Duration: 75 mins
Live Stream & On-site
Thu 1 Oct 2026, 6.30pm
James Fairfax Theatre
https://nga.gov.au/events/2026-annual-lecture/
Join us for an Australian art lecture that started with the discovery of a t-shirt in the archive of the late Australian artist Ann Newmarch, and is now held in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia. The t-shirt carries the provocation: 'AUSTRALIAN ART? WHO DECIDES?'. In wearing this t-shirt, Newmarch, a leading Feminist figure, was questioning the canon.
In this lecture Professor Lisa Slade, Hugh Ramsay Chair in Australian Art History at the University of Melbourne, continues Newmarch’s enquiry – carrying it forward into a contemporary reckoning with Australian art and its histories. Along the way, Slade positions the canon not as a fait accompli but as a work in progress. She challenges the audience to stake their claim in the art history game and calls upon special guest and 2026 Archibald Prize winner, Richard Lewer, to join her in a live confessional about Australian art, its histories and its future.
Image: Professor Lisa Slade. Installation view, Art Gallery of South Australia, featuring (left to right) Barbara Hepworth (artist), Head (Ra), 1971 Barbara Hepworth © Bowness; Jan van Os (artist), Flowers, c1780s; Michael Zavros (artist), The Phoenix, 2015 ©2026 Michael Zavros; Henri Fantin-Latour, Zinnias c.1897-99. Image supplied by speaker. Photo: Saul Steed Art Gallery of South Australia
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Where is it happening?
Parkes Place East, Canberra, ACT, Australia, Australian Capital Territory 2600
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherNational Gallery of Australia, Canberra
