New England Regional Art Museum

SLOW STITCHING/BORO with Jen Corkish
2026-02-07 13:00 - 16:00 (Australia/Sydney)
Slow stitching by hand, in our fast-paced lifestyle, has become a beautiful way to pause, unwind, and create something that is aesthetically pleasing and deeply personal.
Join Jennifer Corkish as she takes you on a slow stitching journey inspired by traditional Japanese textiles. Jennifer will share vintage fabrics collected during two trips to Japan in 2019 and 2025, and participants will be encouraged to handle these special pieces—and even try on her stunning handmade vest.
During the workshop, Jennifer will talk about and demonstrate several techniques, showing just how versatile and wonderfully addictive slow stitching can be. You’ll explore traditional Japanese stitching methods and learn how to adapt them into a more contemporary, trendy style. Guidance will also be provided on how to turn your stitched sample into a finished piece once you return home.
A kit is included in the price, containing fabrics, threads, and a needle. If you have your own fabric pieces you’d like to incorporate, you are very welcome to bring them along.

1pm – 4pm Saturday 7th February

Participants to bring: small Scissors, pins with glass heads, thimble if you have one, pencil and pad for notes, snap lock bags to store the small pieces of fabric.

Educators Information Night – Creative Learning Program at NERAM
2026-02-12 17:00 - 18:00
Educators Information Night – Creative Learning Program at NERAM (2026)
Join us for a relaxed teachers and educators’ presentation to launch NERAM’s Creative Learning Program for 2026.
Enjoy drinks on arrival, connect with other local educators, hear what’s coming up at NERAM, and share what you’d love to see from us in the year ahead. You’ll also get a sneak peek at our 2026 exhibitions and have the chance to explore our Creative Learning 2026 Package.
Date: Thursday 12 February
Time: 5:00–6:00pm
Who: Teachers, educators and school staff (all welcome)
What to expect: Drinks on arrival • short presentation • networking • Q&A / feedback
Creative Learning 2026 Package: https://www.neram.dev.nucleoserver.com/content/uploads/2025/12/Creative-Learning-2026-Program-Teacher-Information.pdf
We’d love to see you there.

Artist Talk: Beth MacRaild O’Loughlin & Eveline Chan
2026-02-21 10:30 - 11:30
Step inside the ideas and processes that shape Traces: Memory in Landscape in this artists talk with Eve Chan and Beth MacRaild O’Loughlin. The artists will reflect on how memory, time and place inform their practices, discussing the ways printmaking and analogue photographic processes can capture traces of lived experience within the landscape. This talk offers audiences an opportunity to engage directly with the artists and gain deeper insight into the conceptual and material foundations of the exhibition.

Image: Eveline Chan and Beth MacRaild O’Loughlin, Between the two, 2025, photogravure print with chine collé

Sunday Afternoon Concert
2026-02-22 16:30 - 19:00
Wind up the weekend and wind down with Beethoven and Haydn in the calm of the Hinton Collection.
Featuring Keith Power, forte piano; Caleb Murray, ‘cello; James McKay, flute.

Hinton Gallery NERAM
DATE: Sunday February 22nd
TIME: 4.30pm – 7pm
PRICE: General Admission: $45 – Concession Price: $40

Seniors Festival 2026
2026-03-02 10:00 - 2026-03-05 16:00
Seniors Week at NERAM – We’re celebrating Seniors Week with a wonderful program of creative, social and community-minded activities — and we’d love you to join us.

Tues 3rd March:

10am-12pm: Art, Reminiscence and Travel

Wed 4th March

10am-11am: Rusty Singers sing-a-long concert
1:30pm-2:30pm: In Conversation with Margaret Bain – “A Portrait of Howard Hinton”

Thurs 5th March

11am-11:45am: Strum & Sing-a-long with Maissel from Chilli Jam
2pm-3pm: Museum of Printing Tour & Postcard Printing
5:30am-6:30pm: Director’s Talk “Intimate Connections”

Fri 6th March

12:30pm-1:15pm: Storeroom Tours with the Director
2pm-3.30pm: Silver Swans Ballet Workshop

Sat 14th & Sun 15th March

10am-4:30pm: NERAMble – Art in the Garden

Rusty Singers sing -a-long concert
2026-03-04 10:00 - 11:00
Rediscover the joy that singing can bring with this incredible seniors choir, the Rusty Singers. Enjoy a seated performance and bop along to a range of songs, from show tunes to jazz, this group will inspire you to join in by the end (which you will be encouraged to do!)

NSW Seniors Week Event

In Conversation with Margaret Bain – “A Portrait of Howard Hinton”
2026-03-04 13:30 - 14:30
Who was Howard Hinton — the man behind one of Australia’s greatest art collections? A Portrait of Howard Hinton uncovers the life of this enigmatic philanthropist, moving beyond the familiar image of a shy bachelor who gave away his fortune for art. Drawing on Hinton’s long-lost diary and years of meticulous research, Margaret Bain reveals a vibrant, generous, and deeply connected figure at the heart of Sydney’s cultural scene in the early 20th century.
Join us for an in conversation with the author of A Portrait of Howard Hinton, Margaret Bain and join a book club style conversation where we will unpack some of the themes and questions that have emerged in reading the book.
Haven’t read the book? You can pick up a copy at the Museum Shop or just pop along anyway.

NSW Seniors Week event.

Strum & Sing-a-long with Maissel from Chilli Jam
2026-03-05 11:00 - 11:45
Celebrate Seniors Week with a joyful afternoon of music in the gallery. Join Maissel from Chilli Jam to listen to, and sing your favourite tunes, and — if you play — bring your ukulele along for a relaxed community strum. No experience needed, just come ready to make some music together.

A NSW Seniors Week event.

Director’s Talk “Intimate Connections”
2026-03-05 17:30 - 18:30
Join NERAM Director Rachael Parsons for a floor talk exploring the powerful artist relationships at the heart of Intimate Connections. Drawing on key pairings from the exhibition alongside compelling international examples, this session traces the love, rivalry, highs and lows of lives spent together in art. Its and art history lecture with a generous dollop of gossip and inuendo… what’s not to love!

A NSW Seniors Festival event

Storeroom Tours with the Director
2026-03-06 12:30 - 13:15
Join NERAM’s Director Rachael Parsons for a tour of the NERAM storeroom. Rachael will show some of her personal favourite artworks from the Hinton, Coventry and NERAM Collections and participants can select a rack of artwork to pull out and explore.
Places limited, bookings required.

A NSW Seniors Festival event

Silver Swans Ballet Workshop
2026-03-06 14:00 - 15:30
Silver Swans classes have been specifically designed for the over-55s, but whatever your age, if you are looking for a new way to keep fit and active, our ballet classes will put a spring in your step.
Whether you’ve never danced before or want to get back into the swing of it, our classes have something for everyone.
The R.A.D. developed this programme based on research into dance practice for older learners – classes are only taught by Silver Swans Licensees. Joanne Knight RAD.RTS is currently offering ballet classes including Silver Swans at PLC dance studio, Armidale.
If you are one of those ladies who have always wanted to ballet, its never to late to shine and what better way to start than with this free event! We will have a number of ballet barre’s set up within our Hinton Gallery for a quiet atmosphere. We encourage you to wear comfortable clothing and, if possible, shoes that have some flexibility in them.

A NSW Seniors Festival event

All About Women 2026: Satellite Stream
2026-03-08 10:30 - 14:00
All About Women returns to the Sydney Opera House on 8 March to celebrate International Women’s Day.
All About Women is one of the Sydney Opera House’s flagship festivals, a day of talks and discussions exploring ever-evolving questions on gender, culture and equality.
Excitingly, 2026 also marks the return of the All About Women Satellite program in which a selection of talks from the festival will be made available to community groups across the country, including right here at NERAM.

Satellite Timeline
Raising Boys Watch Live from 10:30am – 11:30am AEDT on Sunday 8 March 2026
Zadie Smith Watch Live from 1:00pm – 2:00pm AEDT on Sunday 8 March 2026

About the individual sessions
RAISING BOYS with Jess Hill, Zac Seidler, moderated by Jamila Rizvi
10:30am – 11:30am AEDT – Live
From Andrew Tate to algorithmic rabbit holes, this panel will unpack the real forces shaping boys today – and what parents can do beyond panic and blame.
Bringing up boys isn’t getting any less complicated. One minute they’re sweet, funny little humans. The next, they’re parroting some podcast bro who insists “patriarchy isn’t real” and “grindset” is a personality.
Shows like Adolescence and books like The Anxious Generation tapped a nerve. As toxic masculinity is loudly (and often rightly) called out, a generation of boys is confused and ashamed – and the algorithm is happy to lead them down dark alt-right rabbit holes. It’s part of the reason the Australian government introduced age restrictions for social media accounts.
So how do we cut through the bro-fluencer noise to raise resilient, emotionally literate boys?Investigative journalist Jess Hill (See What You Made Me Do) and clinical researcher and men’s mental health expert Zac Seidler unpack the cultural forces shaping boys today and how adults can guide them with compassion.
ZADIE SMITH, hosted by Michaela Kalowski
1:00pm – 2:00pm AEDT – Live
Literary powerhouse and north-west London legend, Zadie Smith unpacks our cultural chaos with both subtlety and precision. When the best ideas risk being flattened into feed-friendly takes, she dares us to resist the comfort of simple narratives.
Buckle up for an eye-opening conversation inspired by her latest essay collection, Dead and Alive, which spans politics on both sides of the Atlantic, cinema, galleries, Glastonbury and the question of who gets to make art.
With her trademark mix of intellect and irreverence, Smith unpacks our culture. Expect razor-sharp insight and a reminder that in a fractious, doomscrolling world, curiosity is always our best line of defence.

How to Watch
Date: Sunday 8th March
Time: 10:30-11:30am & 1-2pm
Location: Mazda Gallery at the New England Regional Art Museum
Cost: $0

NERAMble: Art in the Garden
2026-03-14 10:00 - 2026-03-15 16:30
Hosted by the Friends of NERAM, Art in the Garden returns to the beautiful grounds of “Auchinlea,” North Dumaresq, on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 March 2026, 10.00am–4.30pm daily.
Enjoy a relaxed weekend of art, gardens and community with sculpture, watercolour and oil paintings, pottery, silversmith works, plants, autumn harvest stalls and unique treasures to discover — plus Devonshire teas and a raffle. Entry is $10 for adults, $8 for Friends of NERAM members, and free for under-16s.

Directions
On the New England Highway Bypass at Armidale take the UNE exit. At the roundabout take first exit onto Queen Elizabth Drive (towards UNE). Continue straight – past university colleges – on Handel Street. At 1.1km, just after last houses, turn left across the railway line, then turn right onto Old Inverell Road. Proceed for 3.3km, turn left into Tanglewood Road North.
Auchinlea Garden 300 metres on right.
Look for Friends of NERAM signage.
For GPS navigation enter “28 Tanglewood Road North, Armidale, NSW”.

A fundraising event by
Friends of NERAM Inc 9885144
email : foninvitations@gmail.com

Opening Night
2026-03-20 18:00
Join us for the opening of 2 new exhibitions
Across the Ditch (and back again)
Tinted: Janna Hayes and Phoebe Hillard

Image: Janna Hayes, Out of the blue, 2026. bitumen and oil on paper

Skywhales Across Australia: Patricia Piccinini
2026-03-21 05:30 - 07:00
Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhalepapa is a monumental sculpture in the form of a hot-air balloon. Together with its companion piece Skywhale they form a skywhale family.
Following their debut over Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra 2021, the floating pair will continue to take to skies across Australia as a National Gallery touring event in 2026.
Piccinini believes Skywhales Across Australia is not only two spectacular sculptures but a performance piece:

“I imagine visitors assembling to watch Skywhalepapa coming to life, with a single skywhale figure we have a character, but with the two we have a relationship, and a narrative.” says Piccinini.
As the skywhales float across the dawn skies, Piccinini calls on communities to engage with them creatively. Make a morning of it, prepare a picnic, watch in awe, and sing along in wonder as the skywhale family takes flight.

See the skywhales in Armidale as part of the Autumn Festival on the 21st of March from 5:30am at Rologas Sporting Fields and floating over the CBD as the sun rises.

Patricia Piccinini will then join us at the New England Regional Art Museum for the following events:
11am-12pm: Every Heart Sings Book Reading
1:30pm-2:30pm: Artist Talk with Patricia Piccinini
Skywhales Across Australia is a National Gallery Touring Event, supported by the Australian Government through Visions of Australia and the National Collecting Institutions Touring Outreach Program.
Skywhales is the third instalment of The Balnaves Contemporary Series and is a Know My Name project.

Every Heart Sings Book Reading by Patricia Piccinini
2026-03-21 11:00 - 12:00
Join Skywhales Across Australia artist, Patricia Piccinini for a reading of her new book Every Heart Sings.
Every Heart Sings follows the journey of the skywhale family and talks about nature, family, evolution, care and wonder. Published by the National Gallery of Australia, it is Patricia Piccinini’s first children’s book.
The reading is most suited to children aged 4 – 7 years and their families.
Skywhales Across Australia is a National Gallery Touring Event, supported by the Australian Government through Visions of Australia and the National Collecting Institutions Touring Outreach Program.
Skywhales is the third instalment of The Balnaves Contemporary Series and is a Know My Name project.

Skywhales Across Australia: Artist Talk with Patricia Piccinini
2026-03-21 13:30 - 14:30
Join us for a rare opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Patricia Piccinini.

For over 25 years Patricia Piccinini has interrogated the complex relationship between our natural and artificial worlds, beginning each creative project with a speculative question, a wondrous ‘What if…?’.

Known internationally for her astonishing hyperrealism, Piccinini’s practice comprises drawing, photography, video, mixed-media painted compositions, large-scale installation, and includes the now iconic hot-air balloon Skywhales sculptures.

Skywhales Across Australia is a National Gallery Touring Event, supported by the Australian Government through Visions of Australia and the National Collecting Institutions Touring Outreach Program.
Skywhales is the third instalment of The Balnaves Contemporary Series and is a Know My Name project.

Experimenta Emergence: Curator's Talk & Tour
2026-03-28 15:00 - 16:30
Experimenta Emergence intertwines the work of contemporary artists who critically examine our changing world to reveal ways humanity might confront and adapt to emerging challenges now and in the near future.
At a time when the unknown and maybe the unknowable is building like a wave, these artists encourage us to question our shifting realities. What are the forces shaping our worlds? How might we encounter, counter or adapt to the transformations of the human and more-than-human world we are part of? Can we alter current trajectories?
The art works these Australian and international artists have created – virtual realities, participatory works, and speculative fictions – will provoke you to ask questions about where we, individually and collectively, are going … and where we might want to go.
This tour is hosted by the exhibition curator, Lubi Thomas, providing a unique guided insight into the exhibition, delving into the artists’ works, practice and the exhibitions’ themes.

Opening Weekend: Experimenta Emergence
2026-03-28 15:00 - 2026-03-29 17:00
Join us for the opening weekend of Experimenta Emergence: National Tour of Media Arts!
Experimenta Emergence presents the work of contemporary artists who explore emerging societal and environmental changes and offer other perspectives, imagined possibilities and directions.
At a time when the unknown and maybe the unknowable is building like a wave, these artists encourage us to question our shifting realities. What are the forces shaping our worlds? How might we encounter, counter or adapt to the transformations of the human and more-than-human world we are part of? Can we alter current trajectories?
The art works these Australian and international artists have created – virtual realities, participatory works, and speculative fictions – will provoke you to ask questions about where we, individually and collectively, are going … and where we might want to go.

Curator: Lubi Thomas
Curatorial Advisor: Jody Haines
Artists: Leah Barclay | Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez | Sophie Dumaresq | Kate Geck | Amrita Hepi | Katrin Hochschuh & Adam Donovan | Ben Joseph Andrews & Emma Roberts | Daniel McKewen | Hayley Millar Baker | Jonny Scholes | Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm | Wang & Söderström | Liam Young

OPENING WEEKEND PROGRAM:
SATURDAY 28 MARCH
3pm-4:30pm: Curator’s Talk & Tour with AUSLAN Interpreter
SUNDAY 29 MARCH
11am: Moirai, Thread of Life Multi-Sensory Haptic Vest Experience
1pm: Gondwana Virtual Reality Experience

Experimenta Emergence: Virtual Reality Experience
2026-03-29 11:00 - 12:30
Join us for the Gondwana Virtual Reality Experience, part of Experimenta Emergence
About the Event
Gondwana is an immersive, complex procedural digital ecosystem, and this work has been specially redeveloped for Virtual Reality as part of the Experimenta Emergence exhibition. Explore this generative virtual eco-system within the immersive experience of Virtual Reality (VR) goggles.
Please note: you will be sent a more precise time for your experience closer to the event.

About the Exhibition
Experimenta Emergence presents the work of contemporary artists who explore emerging societal and environmental changes and offer other perspectives, imagined possibilities and directions.
At a time when the unknown and maybe the unknowable is building like a wave, these artists encourage us to question our shifting realities. What are the forces shaping our worlds? How might we encounter, counter or adapt to the transformations of the human and more-than-human world we are part of? Can we alter current trajectories?
The art works these Australian and international artists have created – virtual realities, participatory works, and speculative fictions – will provoke you to ask questions about where we, individually and collectively, are going … and where we might want to go.

Image: Ben Joseph Andrews & Emma Roberts, Gondwana, 2022. Video still: Lachlan Sleight

Experimenta Emergence: Multi-Sensory Haptic Vest Experience
2026-03-29 13:00 - 14:30
Moirai, Thread of Life Multi Sensory Haptic Vest Experience

About the Event:
Haptic sensory vests are some of the latest technologies that allow audiences to experience music and artwork in multi-sensory modes. We have created a sensory score for Moirai, Thread of Life so that audience members of all abilities, and including those who are Deaf or Blind, can feel key aspects of this screen-based film work, through their bodies, in an easy to wear, light vest that has 23 vibrating nodes.
Please note: you will be sent a more precise time for your experience closer to the event.

About the Exhibition:
Experimenta Emergence intertwines the work of contemporary artists who critically examine our changing world to reveal ways humanity might confront and adapt to emerging challenges now and in the near future.
At a time when the unknown and maybe the unknowable is building like a wave, these artists encourage us to question our shifting realities. What are the forces shaping our worlds? How might we encounter, counter or adapt to the transformations of the human and more-than-human world we are part of? Can we alter current trajectories?
The art works these Australian and international artists have created – virtual realities, participatory works, and speculative fictions – will provoke you to ask questions about where we, individually and collectively, are going … and where we might want to go.

Image: Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez, Moirai, Thread of Life, 2023. © Conradi Chavez

Life & Rhymes of Banjo Paterson
2026-03-29 14:00 - 16:00
NERAM is proud to present Life & Rhymes of Banjo Paterson with bush poet Gregory North.
Celebrate Australia’s most beloved poet through his words, his life, and his remarkable legacy. Hear your favourite Banjo Paterson poems and discover fascinating stories from his extraordinary life on the 125th anniversary of Banjo’s visit to Armidale.
On 29 March 1901, Banjo Paterson presented a lecture on the Boer War in Armidale. Beyond his fame as Australia’s greatest poet, Banjo was also a newspaper correspondent during the Boer War in South Africa. From September 1900 to April 1901, he toured Australia and New Zealand delivering lectures on the war, appearing in 56 locations, including Armidale.
Three-time Australian Champion Bush Poet Gregory North will present Life & Rhymes of Banjo Paterson—an extended version of a show he has performed for nine years in Winton, the birthplace of “Waltzing Matilda.” The show features visuals, facts and poetry – a must for any Banjo Paterson fan.
A bar will be operating before the performance. Book your ticket early to secure your spot!
DATE: Sunday 29 March 2026
TIME: 2 pm – 4pm
VENUE: Hinton Gallery, New England Regional Art Museum
COST: $35

Opening Night
2026-05-01 18:00 - 20:00
Join us for the opening night of two exciting new exhibitions – Habitat: Christine James & A Journey in Miniature.
Habitat
Christine James’ works in Habitat look at aspects of the upland wetland and Ramsar Listed reserve, Little Llangothlin, on Banbai Country. They form a continuance of the concerns outlined in her previous works about other Australian wetlands and their catchments and explore in paint Australia’s rapidly disappearing biodiversity.

A Journey in Miniature
This new exhibition from the Australian Society of Miniature Art will open a window into the world of contemporary miniature art.
While miniature artworks convey all the beauty and power of a larger work, they possess the added advantage of being a particularly personal object that draws the viewer in close, creating a greater sense of intimacy with the work.
Miniature artworks can be no more than 40cm perimeter and the subject matter must also be miniaturised, with the technique in keeping with the spirit of miniaturisation.

Opening Date: Fri 1st May 2026
Time: 6pm
Location: New England Regional Art Museum
Cost: FREE

Image credit: A Journey in Miniature: Australian Society of Miniature Art, 2026

Artist Talk: Australian Society of Miniature Art
2026-05-02 10:30 - 11:30
Join us for an insightful artist talk with members of the Australian Society of Miniature Art, whose works feature in A Journey in Miniature exhibition at NERAM.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from the artists and gain deeper insight into the world of small-scale art.
Saturday 2 May 10.30am

Sunday Afternoon Concert
2026-05-10 16:30 - 18:30
Wind up the weekend and wind down with classical music in the calm of the Hinton Collection.
Featuring Keith Power (piano piano); James Chen (violin); Caleb Murray (‘cello). Music by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and the wonderful Piano Trio no2 of Franz Schubert.
This is the second in a series of classical concerts being held in the Hinton Gallery and is set to be an afternoon of culture, classical music, and community.
Drinks will be available by donation.
DATE: Sunday 10th May
TIME: 4.30pm – 6.30pm
PRICE: General: $45 | Concession: $40

Opening Night
2026-05-29 18:00 - 20:00
Join us at the New England Regional Art Museum for the opening night of two new exhibitions: The Neighbour at the Gate and Pochettes en Fête.

The Neighbour at the Gate
The Neighbour at the Gate is a major group exhibition presented by National Art School and guest curated by Clothilde Bullen, alongside Micheal Do and Zali Morgan. The exhibition brings together newly commissioned artworks that examine the enduring impact of Australian immigration policies and colonial histories on First Nations and Asian Australian communities.
Across photography, installation, moving image and mixed media, the exhibition explores themes of exclusion, identity, resistance and belonging, tracing the complex intersections between personal memory and national narratives. Through diverse artistic perspectives, The Neighbour at the Gate reveals the ongoing ways colonial systems continue to shape relationships, borders and experiences within contemporary Australia.

Pochettes en Fête
Pochettes en Fête celebrates the elegance, glamour and enduring allure of the vintage handbag. Bringing together a selection of beautifully crafted pochettes, clutches and evening bags alongside contemporary artworks, the exhibition explores fashion accessories not simply as objects of style, but as carriers of memory, identity and cultural history. From intricate beadwork and luxurious textiles to sculptural forms and exquisite detailing, these vintage and contemporary pieces speak to changing fashions, social rituals and the artistry of adornment across decades.
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.

Event Information
Date: Friday 29th May
Time: 6pm – 8pm
Location: New England Regional Art Museum
Cost: FREE

Credit: Jenna Mayilema Lee, Portal to the Bangarr (billabong) (studio test), 2025. Image courtesy and © the artist.

Artist Talk: Amera Ali & Suad Smo
2026-06-12 17:30 - 18:00
Join us for a powerful artist talk with Amera Ali and Suad Smo about their new exhibition, Drawn from Pain, Written from Truth.
Drawn From Pain, Written from Truth brings together the powerful testimonies of Amera Ali and Suad Smo in an exhibition that speaks to survival, memory and resilience. Captured by ISIS as young girls during the Yezidi genocide, both artists draw on lived experience to share deeply personal accounts of displacement, violence and endurance.
Through text, Amera Ali reflects on trauma, survival and the difficult process of rebuilding a life after unimaginable loss, while Suad Smo’s artworks give visual form to grief, cultural memory and resilience. Together, their practices become acts of witness and resistance, ensuring stories too often silenced are seen and heard.
Note: Amera will be attending the talk in person, while Suad will be appearing via Zoom from Iraq.
Drawn from pain, Written from Truth is proudly supported by Armidale Sanctuary Humanitarian Settlement

⚠️Please note, this exhibition and artist talk will depict and reflect on topics of genocide, assault, and tremendous loss. If these topics could cause you significant distress, please consider talking with our staff to get more information on what is depicted in the works before viewing.
Image credit: Suad Smo, Untitled (detail), 2026. Acrylic on canvas.
For tickets and more information on the opening night event following this talk, please visit our Opening Night event page.

Opening Night
2026-06-12 18:00 - 20:00
Join us at the New England Regional Art Museum for the opening night of two new exhibitions: DistoMorph and Drawn From Pain, Written from Truth.

DistoMorph: Svenja
DistoMorph is an immersive exploration of colour, texture and transformation inspired by the intricate forms of the natural world. Drawing from photographic observations of organic details magnified to a macro scale, the exhibition reimagines nature through vivid distortions and abstracted forms that feel both familiar and otherworldly. Through richly embellished textile works and sculptural forms, pattern, shape and colour expand beyond their original boundaries, creating kaleidoscopic compositions that celebrate beauty, growth and sensory abundance.

Drawn From Pain, Written from Truth: Amera Ali and Suad Smo
Drawn From Pain, Written from Truth brings together the powerful testimonies of Amera Ali and Suad Smo in an exhibition that speaks to survival, memory and resilience. Captured by ISIS as young girls during the Yezidi genocide, both artists draw on lived experience to share deeply personal accounts of displacement, violence and endurance. Through text, Amera Ali reflects on trauma, survival and the difficult process of rebuilding a life after unimaginable loss, while Suad Smo’s artworks give visual form to grief, cultural memory and resilience. Together, their practices become acts of witness and resistance, ensuring stories too often silenced are seen and heard.

Exhibition proudly supported by Armidale Sanctuary Humanitarian Settlement

Event Information
Date: Friday 12th June
Time: 6pm – 8pmArtist Talk with Amera Ali and Suad Smo: 5.30pm
Location: New England Regional Art Museum
Cost: FREE

Credit: Svenja, Expiration, 2023. Felt, wire, fibre-reactive dyes. Needle and wet-felted

UNESAP Let's Hang It! Opening Night
2026-07-24 17:00 - 18:30
Please join us for the opening of the annual UNESAP Let’s Hang It! exhibition.
Discover the talents and artwork of school students from across Northern NSW who have entered into the University of New England Schools Acquisitive Art Prize (UNESAP) and have been selected to be shown in the Let’s Hang It! exhibition.
In 2026, there are 60 finalists selected from more than 700 student entries representing 43 schools in regional NSW.
UNESAP is an annual event which provides New England/North West students, from Kindergarten to Year 12, the opportunity to take part in a large art prize, be part of the wider creative community and to have their work professionally hung in an art museum.

Exhibition opening from 5.00pm Friday 24 July, awards presentation will begin promptly at 5.30pm.
