Citizen | Office for the Arts

National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program: Round 9 (2017–18)

Australian National Maritime Museum

The Art of Science: Baudin's voyagers 1800–1804

This collaborative exhibition, led by the Australian National Maritime Museum and National Museum of Australia, will present paintings and drawings created by French artists Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Nicolas-Martin Petit during Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia in 1800–1804.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Touring funding: $167,355

Bundanon Trust

The Lady and the Unicorn

The Lady and the Unicorn exhibition showcases 25 prints by Arthur Boyd born from the creative collaboration between the artist and Australian-born poet Peter Porter. It includes extracts from Porter's 20 poems on the theme and explores Boyd's approach to printmaking and its place in his artistic career.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to four inner regional venues in New South Wales and Queensland in 2017–18.

Touring funding: $17,390

Arthur Boyd: The Shoalhaven Years

Arthur Boyd: The Shoalhaven Years will concentrate on a little known part of one of Australia’s most famous artists, his work inspired by the landscape of the Shoalhaven River surrounding Bundanon. The works included in this exhibition will convey the artist’s relationship with the landscape that became his home and now a major legacy for the Australian people.

Funding will support development of the exhibition, which will tour to venues across Australia.

Development funding: $67,864

Museum of Australian Democracy

Behind the Lines 2016 and 2017

This annual exhibition showcases the best Australian political cartoons from the year, celebrating Australian's unique, vibrant and fearless tradition of political cartooning. Engaging, witty and always humorous, these images offer an astutely observed journey through twelve months in our political life.

Funding will support the touring of the 2016 exhibition to regional venues in South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria, and development of the 2017 exhibition.

Development and touring funding: $82,225

National Portrait Gallery of Australia

Awesome Achievers: Stories of Australians of the Year

This exhibition will showcase 39 works and audio visual materials showcasing 28 recipients of the Australian of Year Award. It explores concepts of national identity and celebrates an extraordinary array of talent and achievement.

Funding will support the tour of this exhibition to regional New South Wales in 2017–18.

Touring funding: $14,420

Starstruck: Portraits from the Movies

This exhibition is a major collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive which explores through portraiture the intriguing and compelling personal stories of individuals and groups working within the Australian feature-film industry throughout history.

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, which will tour to venues in all states and territories.

Development funding: $28,000

Bare: Degrees of undress

This exhibition showcases 50 portraits across a range of media exploring the degrees of nakedness and includes engaging multimedia elements including a documentary and game.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to four venues in regional New South Wales.

Touring funding: $19,074

National Photographic Portrait Prize (2017 and 2018)

This annual exhibition promotes the best in contemporary photographic portraiture by both professional and aspiring Australian photographers. It attracts entrants from all states and territories and reflects a national representation of contemporary Australian photographic portrait practice.

Funding will support the touring of the 2017 exhibition and development of the 2018 National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition. The 2017 exhibition will tour to five venues in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

Development and touring funding: $28,454

National Archives of Australia

Secret: Spies and Espionage in Australia

This exhibition will explore the history and contemporary role of espionage in Australia by looking at the popular culture presentation of spies versus the reality of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) business and how technology has impacted on ASIO work.

The proposed funding will enable the continued development of this exhibition that will tour to every state and territory.

Development funding: $78,535

National Gallery of Australia

Abstract Woman: Australian women abstraction artists

This exhibition reveals the vital contribution Australian women artists have made to abstract art and includes painting, sculpture, printmaking and applied arts. Drawn entirely from the Gallery's Australian art collection, 90 works in a range of media including painting, sculpture, printmaking and applied arts will take audiences on a journey from the early 20th century through to the present day.

Funding will support touring the exhibition to four venues in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in 2017–18.

Touring funding: $23,641

The National Picture

This collaborative exhibition with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery will focus on portrayals of Tasmanian Aboriginal people from the declaration of martial law in Tasmania in 1828 through until 1851. The works of Benjamin Duterrau, colonial Tasmanian artist, is central to the exhibition.

Funding will support the development of this exhibition with touring planned for the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.

Development funding: $100,000

Defying Empire: 3rd Indigenous Art Triennial

Defying Empire: 3rd Indigenous Art Triennial brings the works of 30 contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across the country into the national spotlight.

The exhibition will tour nationally with venues in Northern Territory, Queensland, regional New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania..

Touring funding: $12,250

National Museum of Australia

Happy Birthday Play School: Celebrating 50 Years!

This exhibition celebrates Play School as the longest running children's series on Australian television. Appealing to generations of Australians the exhibition will allow visitors to connect with the sets and props from this beloved show which holds a special place in Australia's cultural memory.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to regional venues in Queensland and New South Wales for 2017–18.

Touring funding: $121,900

Midawarr—Harvest: wild food and art in an Arnhem Land flood plain.

This exhibition will display a select suite of works by Mulkun Wirrpanda, senior female artist of the Dhudi-Djapu clan of north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, alongside a commissioned landscape by artist John Wolseley to produce a watercolour tableau of the Garrangari and Garrangali floodplain of Yolngu country to explore Yolngu ecology.

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, with future touring to New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Development funding: $37,935

National Film and Sound Archive

Starstruck: Portraits from the Movies

This exhibition is a major collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive that explores through portraiture the intriguing and compelling personal stories of individuals and groups working with the Australian feature film industry through its history.

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, which will tour to venues in all states and territories.

Development funding: $28,000

Learn more about the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program.

National Library of Australia

Cook 2018 (working title)

Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Cook's departure from England, this exhibition celebrates Cook's contribution to science, navigation and the Pacific and explores his complex legacy.

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, which will be presented in 2018 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Development funding: $100,000

George French Angas

This exhibition will survey the work of colonial artist and naturalist George French Angus who made hundreds of watercolour drawings of the colonial frontiers in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa between 1844 and 1847.

Funding will support the development and touring of the exhibition, which will tour to South Australia.

Development funding: $7,200

Read more about National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program: Round 9 (2017–18)

National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program: Round 10 (2018–19)

Australian National Maritime Museum

The Art of Science: Baudin's voyagers 1800–1804

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Touring funding: $153,077

Bundanon Trust

Arthur Boyd: Landscape of the Soul (previously The Shoalhaven Years)

Arthur Boyd: Landscape of the Soul will concentrate on a little known part of the life of one of Australia's most famous artists, and the work inspired by the landscape of the Shoalhaven River surrounding Bundanon. The works included in this exhibition will convey the artist's relationship with the landscape that became his home and now a major legacy for the Australian people.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to inner regional venues in New South Wales and Queensland.

Touring funding: $57,000

Museum of Australian Democracy

Behind the Lines 2017

Funding will support the touring of the 2017 exhibition to venues in New South Wales, and Victoria.

Touring funding: $32,000

Behind the Lines 2018

Funding will support the development and touring of the 2018 exhibition to venues in the Northern Territory, New South Wales, and Victoria.

Development and Touring funding: $70,200

National Film and Sound Archive

Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, which will tour to venues in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

Development funding: $132,913

National Gallery of Australia

The National Picture: The art of Tasmania's Black War

This collaborative exhibition with Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery will focus on portrayals of Tasmanian Aboriginal people from the declaration of martial law in Tasmania in 1828 through until 1851. The work of Benjamin Duterrau, colonial Tasmanian artist is central to the exhibition, including his painting The Conciliation.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition, which will tour to venues in Tasmania.

Touring funding: $95,634

Art Deco

This exhibition presents works from the National Gallery of Australia's collection. In the 1920s, Australian artists responded to the international movement towards modernism and Art Deco styles. Shaking off the austerity of World War I they created images of an abundant nation filled with strong, youthful figures, capturing the vitalism of a nation reborn.

Funding will support touring the exhibition to venues in New South Wales and Queensland.

Touring funding: $39,981

The Ned Kelly Series

This project is a national tour of Sidney Nolan's 1946—47 paintings on the theme of 19th-century bushranger Ned Kelly. In 1977, Sunday Reed donated 25 of the 27 paintings in Nolan's first exhibited Kelly series to the NGA. These 26 paintings constitute one of the greatest series of Australian paintings of the 20th century and Nolan's invention of an original and starkly simplified image for Ned Kelly—as a slotted black square atop a horse—has become a part of the shared iconography of Australia.

Funding will support touring the exhibition to venues in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Touring funding: $36,540

Defying Empire: 3rd Indigenous Art Triennial

Defying Empire: 3rd Indigenous Art Triennial brings the works of 30 contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across the country into the national spotlight.

The exhibition will tour nationally with venues in Northern Territory, Queensland, regional New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

Touring funding: $26,415

National Library of Australia

George French Angas

This exhibition celebrates the work of George French Angas, a colonial artist and naturalist who made hundreds of watercolour drawings of the colonial frontiers of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa between 1844 and 1847.

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, which will be presented in South Australia.

Development and touring funding: $12,000

National Museum of Australia

Happy Birthday Play School: Celebrating 50 Years!

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to regional venues in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Touring funding: $90,000

Midawarr—Harvest: wild food and art in an Arnhem Land flood plain.

Funding will support the touring of the exhibition to Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Touring funding: $110,000

National Portrait Gallery of Australia

Express Yourself

This exhibition draws from the Gallery's contemporary collection and highlights portraits of Australians whose unique life experiences symbolise social and cultural themes. The portraits attest to the facility of photographic portraiture to convey compelling psychological depth. The exhibition will premiere a newly-commissioned portrait of Rosie Batty by photographer Nikki Toole.

Funding will support the tour of this exhibition to regional galleries across Australia, including delivery of outreach education programs.

Touring funding: $29,612

Starstruck: On Location

This exhibition is a condensed version of the Starstruck: Portraits from the movies collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive. Starstruck explores through portraiture, the intriguing and compelling personal stories of individuals and groups working within the Australian feature-film industry throughout history.

Funding will support the development and touring of the exhibition in small venues with limited environmental controls.

Development and touring funding: $34,500

National Photographic Portrait Prize (2018 and 2019)

Funding will support the touring of the 2018 exhibition and development of the 2019 National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition, including delivery of outreach education programs. The 2017 exhibition will tour to small regional venues in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales.

Development and touring funding: $67,698

Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits

Funding will support the development of the exhibition, including delivery of outreach education programs, which will tour to venues in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

Development and touring funding: $12,430

Read more about National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program: Round 10 (2018–19)

Major Performing Arts Framework

Read more about Major Performing Arts Framework

Community Heritage Grants

Read more about Community Heritage Grants

Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Scheme

Read more about Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Scheme

Indigenous Languages and Arts program

Read more about Indigenous Languages and Arts program

Australian Lending Right Schemes (ELR/PLR)

Read more about Australian Lending Right Schemes (ELR/PLR)

National Cultural Heritage Account

Read more about National Cultural Heritage Account

National Cultural Heritage Committee

The National Cultural Heritage Committee is made up of ten people with expertise in Australia's cultural heritage.

The Committee is responsible for:

assessing export permit applications and making recommendations to the Minister for the Arts about if a permit should be granted
assessing funding applications from the National Cultural Heritage Account
assessing expert examiner applications
advising the Minister for the Arts about issues related to cultural heritage.

The Minister for the Arts appoints the Committee under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. Members serve for terms of up to four years. They can be reappointed.

The Committee is made up of:

four people from different collecting institutions
an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander nominated by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs
an individual nominated by Universities Australia
four people with experience relevant to the cultural heritage of Australia.

The current members are:

Professor Martin Gibbs—Professor of Australian Archaeology, University of New England, Armidale
Mr Simon Elliott—Deputy Director, Collection and Exhibitions, Queensland Art Gallery
Ms Jane Stewart—Manager of Engagement, State Libraries and Archives Tasmania
Dr Tim Sullivan—Consultant, museums and heritage
Ms Louise Tegart—Director, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria
Dr Geraldine Mate—Principal Curator, History, Industry and Technology, Queensland Museum
Dr Stephen Gilchrist—Senior Lecturer, School of Indigenous Studies, University of Western Australia
Dr Zoe Rimmer—Assistant Director, Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania, Department of National Resources and Environment Tasmania
Ms Tina Baum—Senior Curator, First Nations Art, National Gallery of Australia

Read more about National Cultural Heritage Committee

Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation

The Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation provides advice to the Australian Government on repatriation matters.

Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation

The Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation (the Committee) is an all-Indigenous committee. The Minister for the Arts appoints members of the Committee to advise on policy and program issues related to the repatriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains (ancestors) and secret sacred objects (objects) held in Australian collecting institutions and ancestors and associated material held overseas.

Hear about repatriation

Committee role

The Committee provides strategic advice to the Australian Government on issues directly affecting Indigenous repatriation, including:

The Australian Government's Indigenous Repatriation Policy.
The repatriation of ancestors and objects that have limited provenance and no identified community of origin.
Repatriation matters that affect all or many communities (as each community advises on its own cultural protocols for ancestors and objects).
Any other relevant matters.

The Committee also promotes awareness and understanding of the repatriation of ancestors and objects.

Members

Committee members must be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent. In addition, members must have:

an understanding of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander culture and traditions
experience in Indigenous repatriation and/or cultural heritage work.

Current Committee members are:

Mr Gordon is a Goorang Goorang man from Rockhampton in Queensland. He was reappointed as a Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation for a further period of three years in September 2023. Having served two previous terms as a Co-Chair and two previous terms as a Committee Member, Mr Gordon has made a considerable contribution to the Committee and brings 35 years of expertise working in Indigenous cultural heritage, museum practice and repatriation.
Mr Gordon is currently a Community Cultural Consultant advising on museum-related matters. He also provides advice for government agencies on cultural heritage and policy development. He previously held the role of Manager of Indigenous Heritage at the Australian Museum in Sydney where he advised communities on issues such as museum outreach and repatriation of ancestors and significant cultural property.
Together with Ms Grant, Mr Gordon is currently a member of the Australia-France Joint Scientific Repatriation Committee, progressing a way forward for the return of ancestors in French public collections. He and Ms Grant were also members of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies’ (AIATSIS) National Resting Place Indigenous Advisory Committee in 2019 and 2020.
Mr Gordon has also made a significant contribution to the Committee's National Resting Place Consultation Report that considers the long-term care of Indigenous Australian ancestors that have no identified community of origin.
Mr Gordon is a Member of the Strehlow Research Centre Board of Management, and a Member of the Museums and Galleries of NSW's Board of Management’s Aboriginal Reference Committee. He continues to provide advice for government agencies on cultural heritage and policy development.
Ms Grant is a Kuku Yalanji and Mualgal woman from Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait Islands. Having served two previous terms as a Co-Chair, Ms Grant has made a considerable contribution to the Committee. She was reappointed as a Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation for a further period of three years in September 2023. Ms Grant brings over 30 years of experience in governance, national and world heritage management and policy development and provides support to Indigenous people.
Ms Grant is currently the Principal Director of CTG Services. She is also a Member of the Reef 2050 Advisory Committee, the Reef 2050 Traditional Owners’ Steering Group, and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. Ms Grant was previously Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) Indigenous Research Ethics Guidelines Review Working Committee and past Chair of 12 years of the AIATSIS Research Ethics Committee.
Together with Mr Gordon, Ms Grant is currently a member of the Australia-France Joint Scientific Repatriation Committee, progressing a way forward for the return of ancestors in French public collections. She and Mr Gordon were also members of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies’ (AIATSIS) National Resting Place Indigenous Advisory Committee in 2019 and 2020.
In 2009–10, Ms Grant Co-Chaired the Australian Government's International Repatriation Advisory Committee, and led, with Mr Gordon, a national independent review on the Indigenous Repatriation Program.
In 2019, Ms Grant as one of the founding members, became the inaugural Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage to represent Indigenous peoples’ concerns for their World Heritage properties and work with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. In 2020, Ms Grant was appointed as a Director to the Board of the Wet Tropics Management Authority (Wet Tropics World Heritage Area), and then appointed as the first Indigenous Chair of the Board in 2021.
Ms Donovan is a Noongar Wadandi Yok (woman) from Busselton in Western Australia. She was appointed as a Committee Member of the Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation for a period of three years in December 2023. Joining the Committee for her first term, Ms Donovan brings her previous repatriation experience and extensive knowledge in First Nations cultural and environmental heritage.
Ms Donovan currently holds the role of Community, Corporate and Policy Manager with Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation. She is also a Conservation Commissioner for the WA Conservation and Parks Commission and a former Board Member of the WA Indigenous Tourism Operators Council. Ms Donovan was a former Heritage Officer at the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council based in Perth where she coordinated and facilitated Noongar peoples’ engagement on cultural heritage matters.
In 2017, Ms Donovan was nominated by her Elders to represent her community to repatriate their ancestor who was taken to Canada in the early 1960s.
Diversity is a key characteristic of Ms Donovan’s career path having worked in a variety of different industries, including cultural heritage, farming, environment, economy, transport, disability employment, hospitality and tourism. She has a deep understanding of Western Australia’s biodiversity values, landscapes, peoples and experiences. Ms Donovan is a strong advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have the opportunity to tell their own stories and care for their country, culture and heritage.
Associate Professor Bianca Beetson is a proud Kabi Kabi, Wiradjuri and Ngemba woman who lives and works in Queensland. She was appointed as a Committee Member of the Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation for a period of three years in July 2024. Joining the Committee for her first term, Associate Professor Beetson brings her repatriation and museum sector experience and extensive knowledge in First Nations cultural heritage.
In 2023, Associate Professor Beetson became the Director of First Nations at the Queensland Museum. She has previously held positions at Griffith University as Director and Senior Lecturer in both Indigenous Research and contemporary Indigenous Australian Art. She has also previously worked as the Kabi Kabi cultural heritage coordinator and native title claim applicant as well as a Brisbane City Council Indigenous Community Development Officer and Arts Project Officer.
Associate Professor Beetson's role at Queensland Museum requires her to be directly involved in the repatriation of First Nations ancestors and cultural materials. She has worked closely with the Office for the Arts to develop activities via the Museums Grants Program.
Associate Professor Beetson's current board memberships include the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (Chair), Arts QLD First Nations arts and Cultures Advisory Panel, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Board of Trustees, QAGOMA Risk and Audit Committee, and QAGOMA Indigenous Advisory Panel.
Mr Johnson belongs to the Gweagal Clan of the Dharawal Nation. The Kurnell and Cronulla areas of Sydney are his family's traditional Country. He is a direct descendant of Burragalong (Paddy Davis) and Birranyung (Biddy Giles) who were present at the landing of the Endeavour in Botany Bay in 1770.
Mr Johnson currently works with the Gujaga Foundation and as a Gamay Ranger and is a member of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Mr Johnson is experienced in the repatriation of ancestors and cultural materials having represented the Dharawal Nation in Austria to perform cultural ceremony and receive his ancestor in October 2023 and was a participant in the United Kingdom delegation to receive the four Kamay spears recently returned from Cambridge University in April 2024.

Contact
Email: repatriation@arts.gov.au
Phone: 1800 006 992

Indigenous Repatriation

The Australian Government supports the repatriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains (ancestors) and secret sacred objects (objects) which contributes to healing and reconciliation.
Research

The Australian Government facilitates non-invasive research to determine provenance and support the repatriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains (ancestors) and secret sacred objects (objects).

Read more about Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation

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