The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.
Ian Kiernan AO (1940-2018) was Chairman of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World. He started work as a labourer and became a builder, in due course making a fortune in property investments. His business empire collapsed in 1974; divorce and years of legal battles ensued. In 1986-7 he participated in a nine-month yacht race, and was sickened by the amount of rubbish he saw drifting on the fabled Sargasso Sea. In 1989 Kiernan and his friend Kim McKay AO instigated the first clean-up event, around Sydney Harbour. In 1990 the idea was expanded across the country with the first Clean Up Australia Day, in which nearly 300 000 people participated; soon, there were clean-ups across the globe. In 1993 Kiernan won the United Nations Global 500 award for the environment; he was Australian of the Year in 1994; and in 1998 he won the UN Environment Program’s Sasakawa Environment Award. Kiernan defended the simplicity of his environmental activism, saying that it was better than sitting in a ‘dusty office in a tie-dyed t-shirt . . . thinking that the world is going to collapse tomorrow’. Over twenty-five years, the organisation estimates that Australians have collected more than 288 650 tonnes of rubbish on Clean Up days.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001
© Estate of Kate Gollings
Marilyn Darling AC (33 portraits supported)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.
The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.
The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.
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The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.
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