The collection display includes a wide selection of portraits that tell extraordinary stories of encounter, exploration, independence, individuality and achievement in Australia.

Pop on your spy goggles and become an art detective. It’s all in the details! Search for clues!

Join us online or in the Gallery for a powerful conversation with Michael Ghillar Anderson, as he speaks about his personal involvement in the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, its 50-year legacy, and the significance and power of its continuing presence.

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

Are the scandals of the past still regarded as scandals today? Don your defiance and delve into history with us to see if times have changed.

Join award-winning photographer Forough Yavari on a journey to learn how to create intricate, gallery-style fine art portraits from scratch.

Dine online with some of our most delicious portraits of Australia’s groundbreaking culinary experts.

Join Curator Exhibitions Penny Grist to hear about Hoda’s recent book and upcoming exhibition Speak the Wind, and to chat about portraiture, photography, and her life as an artist over the last few years.

What’s it made of? Join us from wherever you are as we look beyond the sitters and artists to explore the materiality of some intriguingly made portraits.

Join us in the Gallery as we explore the collection with our tour for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Sighted companions and guide dogs are more than welcome.

Draw while listening to cellist Alex Voorhoeve.

Feeling blue? Need something to brighten up your day? Join us online as we explore some of the most colourful hue-mans in the collection!

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Join us in the Gallery for an exciting stop-motion animation workshop with Toonworld!

Do you feel the need … the need for speed? Well, click in your seatbelt and join us at pole position for a high-octane adventure to meet some of Australia’s most daredevil drivers!

Stretch up and join us in the Gallery for a series of short performances by some of Australia's leading performing artists.

Join us online as we explore photographic portraits by Polly Borland. Explore her unique artist eye by deeply looking at four fellow ex-pats who ventured to England for bigger and brighter things.

From Shakespeare to Winehouse, Darwin to Dickens, the Beatles, Brontë sisters and Beckham, the National Portrait Gallery London holds the world’s most extensive collection of portraits.

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

Join us from wherever you are as we celebrate International Pi Day (3/14 … get it?!), oh but a day late because it was cooling on the windowsill.

The thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to: six centuries, seven stories, 500 years of British history.

Join us online as we explore some remarkable stories from, Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Draw while listening to nonbinarycode – two unique humans who grew up on a diet of grunge, punk and stadium rock.

Join NIDA-trained actor and teacher, Karen Vickery, Director of Access and Learning, for a workshop full of tips and exercises to protect your most important asset: your voice!

A piano! Celebrate International Piano Day with a mixed tape of piano inspired portraits.

Rush in, slow down and take a looong look at a few portraits, then meet to share your thoughts and observations.

After the Taliban tries to kill her for speaking out on behalf of girls' education, Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai emerges as a leading advocate for children's rights and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. PG (2015), Directed by Davis Guggenheim.

To celebrate ACT Youth Week, we’ll be winding back the clock and uncovering the early starts some of our favourite artists and sitters received.

This free activity for families and friends to enjoy together will have you channelling your inner royal.

We’re thrilled to host Newcastle’s Catapult Dance and Canberra’s Australian Dance Party as they explore innovation and self-portraiture through dance.

Explore the main collection before our usual opening hours. We welcome anyone of any age who would benefit from a more relaxed gallery experience.

Are you aged between 4 and 8 years old? Why not join us in the galleries with our mixed bag of crafty and playful activities inspired by some of our favourite portraits.

Let’s take a look at the importance of the hands in a portrait.

A real life Witch will be reading Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, so children are also encouraged to dress up in their best witch or wizard costumes!

A real life Witch will be reading Room on the Broom (on Zoom!) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, so children are also encouraged to dress up in their best witch or wizard costumes at home.

Draw while listening to Bella Groove as they play an assortment of originals and familiar jazz and blues tunes.

Are you aged between 4 and 8 years old? Why not join us in the galleries with our mixed bag of crafty and playful activities inspired by some of our favourite portraits.

Get your Tuesday inspiration from some revolutionary artists and sitters.

Created and delivered by the team behind the popular ‘Shakespeare by the Lakes’ festival, Lakespeare and Co.’s specially commissioned performance blends a discussion of Shakespeare and portraiture with performed excerpts from his plays and sonnets.

From pearls, jewels and silk to a self-portrait all about flesh, join us for a feast of portraits from Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London where opulence, prowess and oil painting collide. This program will be audio described.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Taking inspiration from market seller’s calls, Tobias Cole and his ensemble, Transcendence, create a soundscape that evokes the energy, chaos, excitement and charm of London’s West End.

Hello operator, this is London calling. One minute, I’ll put you through. Join us like a telephonist to eavesdrop on conversations about collection works that have London ties.

After watching a scurrying rabbit in a waistcoat, Alice, a young and curious girl, follows him down his hole to Wonderland, and meets an array of anthropomorphic creatures who defy logic and reason. G (1951), Directed by Clyde Geronimi.

Celebrate Mother’s Day with Rhythm Syndicate’s musical offering of high energy jazz classics.

With Mother’s Day in mind, join us as we join you from our Women Make History collection hang.

Draw while listening to Canberra duo, the Cashews.

Join us from wherever you are as Belfast-based artist, Colin Davidson talks about the fortuitous happenstances that led to him painting a range of famous faces (from Brad Pitt to the Queen, and everyone in between!)

Join us for a closer look into how three portraits from our collection depict diverse Australians and their different accessibility requirements. We'll be celebrating their art and impact on greater society.

Let’s discuss what is happening in and out of the image in a fun investigation discovering portraiture tropes from 1929 onwards.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

To celebrate Reconciliation week, our free highlights tours will reflect on Australia’s history of challenges and change, and the people who drove us forward.

Join Associate Curator, Rebecca Ray and Curator, Collection & Research, Joanna Gilmour as they explore First Nations activists in our collection, celebrating their continual culture, identity, strength and resilience.

Join Pure Pod founder, Kelli Donovan, and repurpose your own pair of jeans.

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

The remarkable story of one of the true icons of our time, Vivienne Westwood. PG (2018), Directed by Lorna Tucker, 83min.

From pearls, jewels and silk to a self-portrait all about flesh, join us for a feast of portraits from Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London where opulence, prowess and oil painting collide. This program will be audio described.

Come on a journey of exploration to celebrate World Oceans Day! Join artists Dr Sarah Kachovich, Megan Cope and Jiani Sheng in conversation with NPG Exhibitions Curator Penny Grist.

Calling all glam-punks, royal-rebels and glitzy-queens!

Draw while listening to the Uccellini Recorder Ensemble.

Join us for our film series exploring themes, stories and lives celebrated in our special exhibition Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London.  

As we approach the end of our time with Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London, let’s get all spooky, light our candelabras and delve into the stories of those in the exhibition who met a gruesome, untimely end...

Listen in on our tour for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Join us in the Gallery as we explore artworks from our special exhibition, Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London with audio descriptions.

Canberra’s premiere literary theatre company, Lakespeare, returns to the Gallery with a new performance to bring to life the great works of the poets, novelists, orators and inspiring minds featured in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Canberra’s premiere literary theatre company, Lakespeare, returns to the Gallery with a new performance to bring to life the great works of the poets, novelists, orators and inspiring minds featured in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Dive into the world of frills, feathers and fatigues as we discuss the importance of costume in Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

The Darling Portrait Prize is a national prize for Australian portrait painting honouring the legacy of Mr L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015). The winner receives a cash prize of $75,000.

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

Experience the very best new portrait paintings and photographs from across Australia.

Join Australian photography curator, historian and writer, Helen Ennis for a conversation about photographers challenging the conventions of personal and public space in their portraits.

Calling on Canberra Cathies! Help celebrate Canberra’s sixth The Most Wuthering Heights Day ever and our special exhibition, Shakespeare to Winehouse, featuring a beautiful portrait of the Brontë sisters.

This school holidays, remember to hop (like Peter Rabbit) into our play plot! Inspired by Beatrix Potter’s portrait in our special exhibition, Shakespeare to Winehouse.

Explore the main collection before our usual opening hours. We welcome anyone of any age who would benefit from a more relaxed gallery experience. We’ll have low sensory spaces, quiet areas and a creative activity for families to enjoy together.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Little Faces is for babies and toddlers (with their grown up) to play, sing and have fun discovering a portrait together.

Featuring more than two-hundred works by Australian artists, the exhibition explores our inner worlds and outer selves, as well as issues of sociability, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and ordinariness.