On demand

The Huxleys

In Conversation

48 minutes

From wigs to glitter, video art to Pompeiian marriage portraits, The Huxleys do it all.

Curator’s Intro

Archie 100

38 minutes

Join Natalie Wilson, curator of Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize and Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW, for a peek into some of the portraits and themes in the exhibition.

Science Week workshop

Brains vs. Computers

48 minutes

The ultimate battle! Join us with artist Jess Herrington for a workshop like no other.

NPG x Yarra Ranges

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

29 minutes

While the 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize visits Lilydale in VIC, catch Yarra Ranges Regional Museum curator Maddie Reece as they speak to finalists Ayman Kaake and Joey Chan about photography, portraits and their art practice.

Power, People and Protest

Celebrating the Franklin River

1 hour 4 minutes

Join creators of the Franklin: A journey to the past. A quest for the future, lead protagonist and co-producer Oliver Cassidy and producer Chris Kamen as we explore the historic story of the Franklin River.

Pub Rock Shoalhaven

In Conversation

43 minutes

Fluff your mullet, squeeze into your jeans and join our Director Collection and Exhibitions Sandra Bruce, musician and producer Paul Greene, and musician George Bishop of El Horses fame for a local beer garden chat about this loud and sweaty exhibition.

Andrew Sayers Memorial Lecture – CLANSHIP

1 hour 9 minutes

The 2023 lecture was delivered by Stephen Page AO, former Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre and descendent of the Ngugi/Nunukul people of the Quandamooka Nation and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh Nation from South East Queensland.

Vipoo Srivilasa

Handmade Eleganza Extravaganza Paper Dolls

37 minutes

Unleash your creative side and show the world your unique style with a handmade paper doll!

Story time

Do you want to meet your Grandma?

45 minutes

Listen online to a lively reading by author SV Middleby, then create your own visual response with materials found around the house.

Who Are You

In Conversation

50 minutes

Join us for an intriguing insight into the WHO ARE YOU: Australian portraiture themes with the curators.

Walking a fine line

Line drawing with Caroline Zilinsky

2 hours 3 minutes

Darling Portrait Prize 2022 finalist Caroline Zilinsky takes a deep dive into drawing, focussing on the importance of line in creating a portrait.

Mixing skin tones

Oil painting with Melissa Clements

2 hours 55 minutes

Join Darling Portrait Prize 2022 finalist Melissa Clements and discover the alchemy of colour mixing to create varied and luminous flesh.

Introducing the National Portrait Prizes 2022

In conversation

51 minutes

Join Sandra Bruce, Director Collection & Exhibitions, and Rebecca Ray, Associate Curator, as they explore some of their favourite portraits in our exciting new exhibitions.

Helen Ennis

In Conversation

47 minutes

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

Jennifer Higgie: Repainting History

In conversation

1 hour

Curator, Joanna Gilmour in conversation with Jennifer Higgie, author of ‘The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution, and Resilience, Five Hundred Years of Women’s Self Portraits’.

World Oceans Day

In conversation

58 minutes

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.

Colin Davidson

In conversation

1 hour 5 minutes

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!)

Jo Gilmour

In Conversation

54 minutes

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

Hoda Afshar

In conversation

46 minutes

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.
 

Michael Ghillar Anderson: Standing Firm, Speaking Strong

In conversation

58 minutes

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.

Story time

Dancing With Memories

58 minutes

Make some moving memories with us! Dancing With Memories author Sally Yule will join us for a special reading of her book.

Dreaming with drawings, waltzing with words

Telling your story with Cheryl Orsini

59 minutes

Join us online for a magical workshop with illustrator and author, Cheryl Orsini, as she guides you to weave words and pictures to tell a story.
 

In conversation: Polly Borland

50 minutes

A very special conversation event with internationally celebrated Australian artist Polly Borland - direct from Los Angeles!

Six degrees of Hugh Jackman

In conversation

46 minutes

If we start with world-famous actor Hugh Jackman and give over control to you, where will the chance meetings, delightful parallels, and forks in the road take us?

Ingvar Kenne

In conversation

47 minutes

Join us for an In Conversation with photographer, director, and seven times Photographic Portrait Prize finalist Ingvar Kenne.

Paris pivot

In conversation

44 minutes

Join us for the sliding-doors story of NPPP finalist Nikki Toole's relocation to Paris, and a wander through the incredible portrait projects she has created throughout her career.

Tacon Portraits

In conversation

45 minutes

Join Shanghai-based Australian photographer Dave Tacon in conversation with Exhibitions Curator, Penny Grist.

MEL to LAX

In Conversation

44 minutes

Join us in first class as Exhibitions Curator, Penny Grist catches up with photographer John Tsiavis to reflect on his career and how his creative practice has changed during the global pandemic.

Considering Representation

In Conversation

45 minutes

Join Associate Curator Rebecca Ray and Director Collection and Exhibitions Sandra Bruce for a conversation on the presence of First Nations people in portraiture today.

Birds-eye view

In Conversation

46 minutes

Jump in the nest and join the brood as we celebrate National Bird Week! We’ll take a birds-eye view of the collection, and explore faces of folks with their feathered friends. BYO binoculars.

Chance encounters

In Conversation

45 minutes

Our Curator, Collection & Research, Joanna Gilmour, has thrown caution to the wind and suggested she play a game of chance.

Story time

Possum Magic with Mem Fox

52 minutes

Looking to go on an adventure across Australia? Tune in for a reading of the treasured classic, ‘Possum Magic’ read by Mem Fox.

Down the rabbit hole

In Conversation

48 minutes

Come on a journey behind the scenes, into the woods and reaching for the stars with Penny Grist Curator, Exhibitions.

National Portrait Galleries In Conversation

Capturing a global mood

65 minutes

The power of the photograph and how the exhibitions Hold Still/Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize and Living Memory: National Photographic Portrait Prize reflect identity and our shared human experiences at this unique point in history.

There and back again

In conversation

46 minutes

Louise Cummins, our Travelling Exhibitions Coordinator regales you with tales of journeys across the nation; from moving movie stars to Bathurst to baring all in Broken Hill.

Another pic on the wall

In conversation

44 minutes

An Auslan interpreted program with Director Collections & Exhibitions, Sandra Bruce, for National Week of Deaf People and on the International Day of Sign Languages.

Bring on spring!

Kitiya Palaskas workshop

46 minutes

Create a flower using crafty materials in this hands-on online workshop, hosted by craft-based designer Kitiya Palaskas. It may not smell like roses, but will be everlasting!

You choose the story!

In conversation

46 minutes

In the very strange land where portraiture meets Choose Your Own Adventure meets Six Degrees of Separation meets Australian Idol, there you will find our Curator, Exhibitions; Penny Grist.

Looking to Pounce: Portrait Drawing

1 hour 47 minutes

Join us from wherever you are for this free online drawing workshop with a unique focus on ways of looking and engaging with drawing as a process rather than the creation of a finished product.

Living Memory panel discussion

Join us from wherever you are for a lively panel discussion about lockdown experiences across Australia, illustrated through some of the portraits in our exhibition Living Memory – National Photographic Portrait Prize 2021.

Story Time

A Story of Love

45 minutes

What does love mean to you? Where do we find love? What does love look like?

National Science Week

Virtual Highlights tour

Get your white coat and safety goggles on to celebrate National Science Week! This year’s school theme is Food: Different by Design.

Introducing Living Memory

In conversation

Join Sandra Bruce, Director Collection & Exhibitions, for a sneak peek at our exciting new exhibition, Living Memory: National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Panel discussion

Living Memory

56 minutes

Join us for a dynamic panel discussion that interrogates some of the themes revealed in Living Memory.

Living Memory National Photographic Portrait Prize

Winner announcement

26 minutes

Nathalie Morris and Carlos Sanson Jr

Australian Love Stories walkthrough

10 minutes

Nathalie Morris and Carlos Sanson Jr bump into love in Australian Love Stories.

Will Huxley and Garrett Huxley

Australian Love Stories walkthrough

10 minutes

Will Huxley and Garrett Huxley explore love and art.

Virginia Haussegger and Mark Kenny

Australian Love Stories walkthrough

10 minutes

Virginia Haussegger and Mark Kenny debate love and art.

William Yang

In conversation

57 minutes

Join us from wherever you are to celebrate and reminisce with artist William Yang as he reflects on his joyous photographs of Australia's LGBTIQ+ community.

Chiselled features

Virtual sculpture workshop

120 minutes

Join artist Ellis Hutch from wherever you are for a hands-on workshop with a nod to the ancient art of relief carving.

Rock Chick: Lindy Morrison

In Conversation

45 minutes

Lindy Morrison has played in her share of bands over the years. From jazz to pop to punk, she’s been an ever-present force in Australian music.

NPG Wellington, Edinburgh and Canberra

15 minutes of frame

49 minutes

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Drawing workshop

Focus on the face with Nicholas Harding

126 minutes

Join us from wherever you are for an intimate, online drawing workshop with British-Australian artist Nicholas Harding.

Virtual collection tour

Disability in the frame: Part two

57 minutes

Join us as we look at works from the collection and contemplate inclusivity with a focus on the artists.

NPG London, Scotland and Australia

15 Minutes of Frame

48 minutes

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Virtual collection tour

Disability in the frame: Part one

54 minutes

Join us as we reflect on how people with disability have been represented in portraiture, how this has changed over time and what comes next.

Cherry Hood

Watercolour workshop highlights

6 minutes

Cherry Hood shares her tips to help you hone your watercolour skills.

Karen Quinlan and Kim Sajet

15 Minutes of Frame

33 minutes

Karen Quinlan AM, Director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, in conversation with Kim Sajet, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Liam Nunan and Guy Simon

In Conversation

40 minutes

Darling Portrait Prize finalist Liam Nunan and actor Guy Simon discuss their portrait, their friendship and the intensity of the acting life.

Brenda L Croft and Dr Matilda House

In Conversation

43 minutes

Brenda L Croft (Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra peoples) talks with Ngambri/Ngunnawal/Wiradjuri elder, Dr Matilda House, about her photographic portrait.