National Art School Announces Further Details for Major Exhibition 'The Neighbour at the Gate' this July

The National Art School (NAS) has announced further details for the major new exhibition, The Neighbour at the Gate, presented at NAS Galleries, opening during NAIDOC Week on 11 July and running until 18 October 2025.

Led by Wardandi (Noongar) and Badimaya (Yamatji) woman and senior curator Clothilde Bullen OAM, and a Curatorium comprising Micheal Do and Whadjuk Balladong and Wilman (Noongar) woman Zali Morgan, this world premiere un-knits and unravels the impacts of previous immigration policies, and post-frontier national identity-making upon First Nations and Asian Australian peoples, highlighting the historical and contemporary parallels of these communities.

The exhibition features significant new commissions that will transform the gallery space, by leading First Nations and Asian Australian artists Jacky Cheng, Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson, Dennis Golding, Jenna Mayilema Lee, James Nguyen, and James Tylor.

Curator Clothilde Bullen said: "This exhibition seeks to centre connection between First Nations and Asian Australian cultural groups and raise the level of awareness of those connections, which have existed outside dominant or mainstream culture for as long as humans have come and gone to this continent. By gathering the artists and curators together to tell their stories, we consider the importance of who gets to tell these stories, the archive from which they are drawn, and how they shape perceptions and identities. It is urgent and timely that we offer audiences the opportunity to think deeply about how we frame our national identity, presenting new dialogues about what it means to be an Australian and who we are as a country today."


The newly commissioned works that will be unveiled for the exhibition include:

• An encompassing installation by Jacky Cheng resembling a paifang (牌坊), a traditional Chinese gate monument. Cheng draws on the symbolism of the gate, as both a transitory space suggestive of travel or migration, and a structure that regulates movement to either welcome or exclude, offering passage and protection. As a second-generation Malaysian Chinese artist now residing in Yawuru Country, Broome, WA, Cheng's work invites reflection on the complexities of the migrant experience"of belonging to your homeland from a distance.   
  
  
• A moving image and sound work by Iranian-Australian artist Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson, confronting inherited trauma and the complex interplay between displacement and belonging, violence and love. Drawing on Persian epic literature and spiritual texts, she reframes pain as a transformative force, and love as an ongoing journey of witnessing, reclaiming and becoming. 
  
  
• Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding's installation evoking memories of bingo nights hosted by his grandmother and aunty in an old terrace in Redfern. Anchored by personal memories and histories, Golding's work serves as a gateway to collective Aboriginal narratives and broader impacts of European colonialism in Australia. The work offers a counter-narrative for Aboriginal people that speaks to a shared capacity for joy and strength in the face of ongoing challenges.
  
  
• An installation by Jenna Mayilema Lee exploring transitional spaces that transcend physical boundaries, using water"and specifically the bangarr or billabong"as a metaphor for deep cultural connection and shared histories around food and ritual. Lee's work is deeply rooted in her diverse cultural heritage, of First Nations Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman, and KarraJarri Saltwater ancestry with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Anglo-Australian lineages.
  
   
• Vietnamese-Australian artist James Nguyen's site-specific work highlighting economic and environmental issues, tied to ritual and resilience. Burning endangered Agarwood in hand-formed incense burners made from leftover clay from the National Art School, alongside a textile work dyed using invasive weeds growing along the Parramatta River, Nguyen references histories of the use of the chemical Agent Orange, exposing toxic legacies that connect Australia and Vietnam, particularly for Vietnamese migrants.
  
  
• A large series of daguerreotypes connected to soundscapes by James Tylor drawing from his Nunga (Kaurna Miyurna) and Māori (Te Arawa) heritage to reimagine and reconstruct memories of First Nations knowledge and language. Centered on Indigenous Australian birds, Tylor connects their calls"often rooted in Aboriginal onomatopoeic naming traditions"with traditional ceremonial sounds. This sonic layering reflects the Indigenous practice of embedding animal sounds into cultural expression, preserving knowledge across generations. 

The Neighbour at the Gate is a commissioned exhibition project for the National Art School, proudly supported by the NSW Government through the Blockbusters Funding initiative. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication, learning and education framework and public programs. Further details will be announced in the coming months.

National Art School Director and CEO Dr Kristen Sharp said: "The Neighbour at the Gate is an extraordinary artistic project exploring the connections between First Nations and Asian Australian peoples. This exhibition emerges from a generative collaboration between the National Art School, the Curatorium and the artists. It provides a dynamic setting for expanding dialogues around identity, belonging and challenging histories of colonialism. Through this initiative, the National Art School reaffirms its commitment to activating spaces to enhance artistic expression, fostering collaboration, and presenting exhibitions that profoundly shape contemporary art discourse."

National Art School Project Co-leads Katrina Cashman and John Waight said: "This is an important project for the National Art School at a critical time in our nation's history. We are pleased to be able to lead the cultural conversation with truth telling at the core of this special project. The National Art School is proud to produce this significant exhibition curated by an esteemed team who, drawing on cultural mixed heritage and the lived experiences of an incredible collective of contemporary artists, are examining the complex, intertwined histories of connection and marginalisation of First Nations and Asian communities in Australia. The School is a champion of art as a medium for education and social engagement, and this exhibition is particularly significant in its mission to teach the public about histories that are often underrepresented in mainstream discourse, providing a platform for critical conversations that challenge us to expand our perspectives on issues of racial and cultural identity and the complexities of belonging."


EXHIBITION DETAILS

The Neighbour at the Gate

11 July – 18 October 2025

NAS Gallery, National Art School, 156 Forbes St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

For more information visit; nas.edu.au/the-neighbour-at-the-gate or nas.edu.au