After attracting the attention of more than 80,000 visitors since its reopening, the Newcastle Art Gallery has launched three new exhibitions for 2026.
And, it’s the first changeover of displays following the venue’s long-awaited resurrection.
Director Lauretta Morton admitted it was wonderful to be able to share the collection with the community.
“We are thrilled to move into our ambitious 2026 program, which will showcase significant exhibitions from local, national and internationally renowned artists,” she said.
“It has been really important to ground it in Newcastle.
“We can’t wait for our community to see what else is in store throughout 2026… and beyond.”
Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson’s exhibit Multiverse, from 23 May to 30 August, is one of the three new additions and includes the premiere immersive installation for the artist in NSW.
He explained the display speaks to his ongoing fascination with storytelling, cosmology, memory and the ways Indigenous knowledge systems continue to evolve and expand across time.
As well, it presents more than a decade of his work and various mediums, blending mythology with pop culture.
“Together, they create a space where cultural knowledge, imagination and transformation converge,” he said.
“A place where the past, present and future continue to move in rhythm with one another.
“To present this exhibition at the Newcastle Art Gallery this month is incredibly significant.
“Multiverse represents one of the most considered surveys of my practice to date.
“You can’t get a better gallery to produce an exhibition of this scale.
“And, it’s a wonderful feeling to have this body of work presented here… for audiences across the country to enjoy.”
Newcastle-based creative Tiyan Baker will showcase her first solo show at the gallery, Mouth Mnemonica, on show from 23 May to 6 September.
The exhibition is centred around the endangered language Bukar, spoken by her mother and other Bukar Bidayǔh people of south-western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.
Baker explained it was an honour to share her family’s stories and culture at the Newcastle Art Gallery.
“Through this, I hope to give new life to our endangered language and the knowledge it holds,” she said.
Baker told the Newcastle Weekly it hadn’t “quite hit her” that people now get to see her work.
“I just hope they like it and it resonates with them,” she said.
“I hope a feeling lingers with the audience after they leave.”
A collection of works donated by philanthropists Simon and Cattriona Mordant is also on show.
It’s the largest number they’ve ever bequeathed before and is the first time they’ll be presented collectively to the public.
The pair flew from Italy for the launch party on Friday 22 May.
All exhibits will officially open to the public 24 hours later.
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