NERAM-New England Regional Art Museum

SCHOOL HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES ✨

Whether your child is a toddler or a high school senior, a creative thinker or more analytically minded, there's a workshop to suit everyone this July school holidays!

We hope you can join us for one (or more) of these unique experiences:
🐻Soft Toy Taxidermy on Wed 8th July
🦖UNE Discovery: Art Meets Science on Thurs 9th July
💙UNE Discovery: Big Blue Blocks on Thurs 9th & 16th July
🐷UNE Discovery: Pig Power Tower on Thurs 16th July

For more information & to book in, visit www.neram.com.au/whats-on/category/neram-kids

FEATURED WORK: Homeopathies_where new trees grow 🌳

James Nguyen’s practice positions his personal experiences and perspectives in dialogue with others. For his new site-specific work, Homeopathies_where new trees grow (2025), he repurposes leftover clay from the National Art School to create numerous small-scale incense burners, in which Agarwood is burnt. The ritual of burning incense draws attention to a range of economic and environmental concerns centred on the importance of shared ceremony and resilience.

The incense burners were made by the artist and visitors, accumulating
and transforming the space into an alter. Agarwood, traditionally used in ceremonies, is a resin formed naturally from Aquilaria trees when the trunk is injured. Over millennia, small amounts of this resin have been sustainably harvested from Cambodian and Vietnamese rainforests. Due to the impacts of Agent Orange pesticide used for defoliation during the American War in South Vietnam, Agarwood no longer exists naturally in Vietnamese jungles, but hybrid cultivars are farmed and harvested throughout Asia and in Northern Australia, where the climate is similar.

James’ large textile is dyed with weeds and contaminated mud from the Duck River and Parramatta River in Sydney, collected by the artist and his family. These local sites continue to be impacted by Agent Orange and other toxic leachates from the industrial-scale manufacturing of these chemical weapons along Homebush Bay; much like many sites throughout Vietnam. Due to high levels of Dioxin present from the production of Agent Orange, the NSW Food Authority continues to recommend that only 150 grams of fish caught west of Sydney Harbour Bridge can be consumed by each person per month.




The Neighbour at the Gate shows at NERAM from 29th May - 26th July.

Image credit: James Nguyen, Homeopathies_where new trees grow (detail), 2025, installation view, The Neighbour at the Gate, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2025. © the artist. Photo: Peter Morgan.

Later this month, our friends at Armidale Art Gallery will host Art with Heart, a weekend art sale supporting the Highlands End of Life Project. 💙

Featuring donated and pre-loved artworks from local artists, the event offers a wide range of affordable and collectable pieces. All proceeds will go directly toward providing compassionate, practical support for individuals and families in our community at the end of life.

We'd like to invite all our wonderful community members and visitors to support the event through their attendance and art purchases.

EVENT DETAILS
📆 27th and 28th June
🕐 10am - 4pm each day
📍 Armidale Art Gallery in the Beardy Street Mall
🎟 Free entry

For more information and to RSVP, please visit www.highlandsendoflifeproject.com.au/event-details/art-with-heart-1

PACKSADDLE LECTURE SERIES: LOUISE MITCHELL ✨🌼

The Packsaddle Lecture Series invites leading guest speakers to explore aspects of Australian and international artistic practices and history. In this session, you'll hear from Sydney-based curator and author, Louise Mitchell.

Louise was the Curator of International Decorative Arts and Design at the Powerhouse Museum from 1984 to 2007 and is now a freelance curator. She is also an approved valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program specialising in textiles, costume and accessories after 1700, and archival material relating to textiles, costume and accessories. Author of The Cutting Edge: Fashion from Japan, her previous publications include Stepping Out: Three Centuries of Shoes and Christian Dior: The Magic of Fashion.

EVENT DETAILS
📆 Tuesday 14th July
🕐 6pm-7:30pm
📍 New England Regional Art Museum
🎟 $15 - register via neram.com.au/event/packsaddle-lecture-louise-mitchell

REFUGEE WEEK 2026: A MILLION STORIES 🎨

This exhibition features artworks created by Congolese and Yazidi young people during school holiday workshops organised by Mosaic Multicultural Connections and facilitated by artist and community leader Basim Khudeda.

Working with acrylic paint on canvas, the participants explored colour, landscape, memory and imagination. The artists represented in this exhibition are:

Joshua Kolwezi (14), Mapendo Kolwezi (17), Maya Mirza (13), Esperance Ilelo (13), Bora Kolwezi (16), Ursula Nkunzi (15), Safari Josua (14), Prince Mutebutsi (13), Johari Kolwezi (14), Yohana Ilelo (15), Francine Ibonga (13), and Kostante Abeli (17).

Their paintings reflect a range of personal interests and inspirations—from oceans, sunsets and moonlit skies to mountains, trees and places of peace and reflection.

Refugee Week is a time to recognise the strength, resilience and contributions of people who have sought safety and built new lives in Australia. This year's theme is "A Million Stories". These artworks celebrate creativity as a powerful way of sharing stories, expressing identity and building connections within our community.

Through art, these young people invite us to see the world through their eyes—full of hope, beauty, curiosity and possibility.

Together, their works reveal a rich diversity of experiences, observations and aspirations, expressed through colour, imagination and personal storytelling.

We hope you can pop in sometime this week to view the exhibition, which will be showing from Tuesday 16th June - Wednesday 24th of June. 💛

NERAM NIGHTS: SPEAKEASY & AUCTION ✨💃

Warm up in the heart of winter with an evening of live jazz from OhMaSoul, as well as flowing beverages, hors d'oeuvres, a vintage handbag auction, and an excuse to wear your most outrageously beautiful outfits!

As part of your ticket, you'll receive a drink on arrival and entry into our lucky door prize for a chance to win your very own vintage handbag from the Pochettes en Fête collection.

A silent auction featuring a beautiful selection of the handbags is currently running online and will end at 7:30pm on the night. Then, from 8pm, we'll be hosting a live auction for a small number of particularly rare, exquisite bags.

EVENT DETAILS
📆 Saturday 25th July
🕐 6pm-9pm
📍 New England Regional Art Museum
🎟 Members $57 | General $63

Book your ticket at www.neram.com.au/event/neram-nights-speakeasy-auction/

FEATURED WORK: BINGO ⚫

Bingo (2025) draws from Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding’s recollections of family bingo nights hosted by his Nan and Aunty on Eveleigh Street in Redfern. Gathering in an abandoned terrace, they stitched together joy from what little they had – cutting game cards from cardboard, running power through borrowed cords, and making space for community. The brick-like etchings and plates resemble the terracotta terraces of Redfern – a vital site of Aboriginal community resistance, where Dennis was raised.

Each card tells a family story: cats curled on sun-warmed steps, the long coil of a corded phone, letters opened slowly, a cup of tea cooling by the sink, the quiet rattle of fishing gear. Earthy tones recall the walls of Dennis’ childhood and the ochres of Aboriginal art, while blue and red ink – reminiscent of biro pens – echoes the everyday. Some surfaces bear the dust of soil pressed gently into the paper, a residue of place.

Bingo offers no easy nostalgia. It speaks of strength formed in closeness, of laughter shared across tables, of walls that held community, not confinement. It is a tender monument to survival, made from the small, enduring things that hold us.

‘It wasn’t about winning, but the feeling of freedom and connection.’– Dennis Golding

The Neighbour at the Gate shows at NERAM from 29th May - 26th July.



Credit: Dennis Golding, Bingo, 2025, installation view, The Neighbour at the Gate, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2025 © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan

POCHETTES EN FÊTE SILENT AUCTION NOW LIVE👛👜

A stunning selection of vintage handbags in our Pochettes en Fête exhibition are currently up for silent auction!

Initially only available in person, we have moved this auction online. Now, you can make bids remotely, see current bid amounts, and receive real-time updates if you’ve been outbid.

Presented as a special fundraising exhibition in support of New England Regional Art Museum, Pochettes en Fête invites visitors to experience a playful and sophisticated dialogue between fashion, art and collecting. The vintage handbag collection of Jane Vallance White, generously donated by her daughter Janet White to raise funds for the gallery, forms the heart of the exhibition.

Visit www.32auctions.com/organizations/139500/auctions/202097 to view these exquisite bags and make your bid!

Auction ends 7:30pm Saturday 25th July.

A truly moving experience last night hearing from Amera Ali and Suad Smo about their experiences of captivity, survival and resilience, and the creative journey behind their exhibition, Drawn From Pain, Written from Truth.
Captured by ISIS as young girls during the Yezidi genocide, both artists draw upon their personal experiences of trauma and endurance to create works that are both personal and profoundly powerful. Through their art, they not only share their own stories but also give voice to countless others whose experiences have been silenced or overlooked.
Their exhibition stands as a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the vital role that art can play in bearing witness, fostering understanding and creating hope. Thank you Amera and Suad for sharing your story and work with us.