© National Portrait Gallery 2026
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Oz Rock
Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned, gettin’ beat up, broken boned
General content
Two of the music industry’s highest-selling performers originated in suburban Australia. The Bee Gees started out in Brisbane, for instance, and AC/DC played their first gigs at a nightclub in inner Sydney.
Capital Cool
Stop in all the byways, playin' rock 'n roll
General content
Outsiders tend to give Canberra a bad rap: sterile, plagued by politicians, a comatose capital for professionals and academics. Nick Cave once said he didn’t like the city because there were too many punks.
2017
Portrait Donors
The Dipper
Moustaches
One of the versions of thick, macho moustache strongly associated in the Australian visual lexicon with sportsmen of the 1970s and 80s.
Sensory Kits
Access
Does a young person in your life need additional support to feel at ease in a public space? Our sensory-friendly kits were developed in collaboration with Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia) and are free to borrow during your visit.
Larry Clark
Tough & Tender
General content
Larry Clark's black-and-white documentary images of young outsiders reveal raw feelings.
Treading Water, 2017
by Josh Owen
General content
Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel digital video
2018
Portrait Donors
The Murdoch
Moustaches
Sport was a potent means by which, in the lead up to Federation, Australians began to assert a sense of themselves as youthful, manly and athletic – the products of an equally young and virile new nation.
Major Supporters
$10,000+
Honour board
My Awesome Australian
The Gallery
An online exhibition for and by young people celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Australian honours system.
Shirlie Purdie tells a story from her mother
General content
"It’s good to learn from old people. They keep saying when you paint you can remember that Country, just like to take a photo, but there’s the Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) and everything. Good to put it in painting, your Country, so kids can know and understand. When the old people die, young people can read the stories from the paintings. They can learn from the paintings and maybe they want to start painting too."
Shirley Purdie
Contributing artists
Born: 1947, Gilbun – Mabel Downs Station, WA
Works: Warmun, WA
Blek Bala MJ, 2017
by Timothy Hillier
General content
Finalist, DPA 2017
Single channel HD digital video
Arthur Boyd’s Mysterious Eyes
6 May 2016
Archived media releases 2016
The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a focus exhibition of captivating portraits by renowned artist Arthur Boyd, titled Mysterious eyes: Arthur Boyd portraits from 1945.
The 1950s to the present day
Mo and beard timeline
Certain European leaders (needless to name) had the effect of making certain styles of facial hair decidedly undesirable in the years immediately after World War 2.