Past exhibitions
Explore all the wonders, curiosities and stories associated with the Library's past exhibitions.
2021
Maps of the Pacific
The beauty, art and science of mapping across three centuries presented through a selection of maps, charts, atlases and globes of the Pacific.
How's Tricks? Magic in the Golden Age
Spectacular illusions, bamboozling tricks, and death-defying escapes, Australia’s stage magic history revealed.
2020
Coming out in the 70s
Speaking up and standing out, gay men and women proudly took to the streets in the 70s demanding to be seen, heard and accepted
Eight Days in Kamay
In April 1770, a ship appeared off the shores of Kamay. This exhibition explores the eight days that followed and their continuing legacy.
2019
Living Language: Country, Culture, Community
In the International Year of Indigenous Languages, this exhibition tells stories of resilience and achievement from communities throughout NSW.
Dead Central
Thousands of people travel now through Central Station every day, but how many know what once lay beneath it?
Quick March! The Children of World War I
A personal look at children’s lives during the First World War.
2018
Paintings from the Collection
More than 300 original artworks from the Library’s unique collection of landscape and portrait paintings.
Sydney Elders
Four Sydney elders, Uncle Chicka, Aunty Esme, Aunty Sandra and Uncle Dennis, tell a very personal story of Aboriginal Sydney.
UNESCO SIX
Our UNESCO World Heritage collections displayed together for the very first time.
Memories on Glass
A rare personal record of one Australian family's life during the late 19th and early 20th Century.
2016
Planting Dreams: Grand Garden Designs
Exploring the ideas, influences and inspirations that have shaped our gardening culture.
Planting Dreams: Shaping Australian Gardens
Australia’s leading garden photographers capture the essence of contemporary landscape design across the state.
Colour In Darkness: Images from the First World War
Hand-coloured photographs by 'digger artists' exhibited for the first time in 90 years.
Imagine a City: 200 years of public architecture in NSW
An exploration of the remarkable impact and legacy of the NSW Government Architect’s Office.
Family Fragments
A rare insight into the private lives of one of Australia's artistic icons, Olive Cotton and her husband's family.
2015
What a Life! Rock photography by Tony Mott
From candid portraits to awe inspiring live shots Mott has a unique ability to connect with his subject.
Freedom Ride ’65: unpublished photos from the Tribune archive
Photographs of the '65 Freedom Ride from the Tribune reveal an alternative view of this landmark event in Australian race relations.
Australian Inspiration
How the waratah, the koala and the Sydney Opera House became invaluable sources of inspiration and design.
Crowd Source
In 1880s Arthur K Syer strolled through the streets of Sydney with a disguised camera taking candid photographs of everyday life in Sydney.
Pulp Confidential: Quick & dirty publishing from the 40s & 50s
A rich collection of 1940s and 50s vintage Australian “pulp” cover art, crime story illustrations and comic books, from the papers of Frank Johnson Publications.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
2014
Shopkeepers of Newtown: Photographs by Nic Bezzina
From 2009-2013 photographer Nic Bezzina documented the independent shopkeepers of Newtown, a suburb known for its diversity and alternative culture.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
Life Interrupted: Personal Diaries from World War 1
Life Interrupted tells the story of those who served in WW1 — in their own words.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
Portraits of War: The Crown Studios Project
This exhibition features photographs of soldiers who were heading overseas to serve in World War I.
Artist Colony: Drawing Sydney’s Nature
Artist Colony was drawn from the TAL & Dai-ichi Life Derby Collection comprises 745 exquisite drawings and watercolours.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
2013
Kings Cross, 1970 to 1971: Photographs by Rennie Ellis
The exhibition features twenty-four original photographic created over the summer of 1970–71 by Melbourne-born Reynolds Mark ‘Rennie’ Ellis.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
Australian Glamour
Australian Glamour highlights Australia’s fascination with glamorous fashion pictures through the glossy pages of magazines.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
AMAZE Gallery
Amaze: The Michael Crouch Gallery a permanent gallery to exhibit the breadth and depth of the Library ’s extraordinary collections.
View the exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
Treasures of Newcastle from the Macquarie Era
Rarely seen artworks and maps tell the story of early colony Newcastle from its convict origins and its artistic expansion under Captain James Wallis.
The Greatest Wonder of the World
The Greatest Wonder of the World features a collection of nineteenth century documentary images from the Holtermann archive of wet plate negatives.
View the archived exhibition page
View the archived Curio content
2012
The Life of Patrick White
The Life of Patrick White marks 100 years from the birth of Australia’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature.
Lewin: Wild Art
Lewin: Wild Art is about the life and times of John William Lewin (1770-1819), the first free professional artist to settle in Australia.
2011
Finding Antarctica: Mapping the Last Continent
The story of the gradual discovery, exploration and charting of this significant land mass using maps of Antarctica from the 15th woodcut maps to the 21st century satellite imagery.
On Sale! Shops & Shopping
Modes of shopping have changed over time from general stores and street hawkers, to the stylish arcades and grand department stores of our cities, and the sprawl of the modern suburban shopping mall.
Carved trees: Aboriginal cultures of western NSW
Ornate and expressive, carved trees have been used by Aboriginal people in New South Wales as a form of visual communication for thousands of years.
Beach, Bush & Battlers: photographs by Jeff Carter
Jeff Carter photographs in Beach, Bush + Battlers celebrates the lives of everyday Australians in rural, outback, urban and coastal communities.
2010
Mari Nawi: Aboriginal Odysseys 1790 – 1850
The story of the Eora and Darug people who sailed on English ships to destinations in Australia and throughout the world between 1790-1850.
The Governor - Lachlan Macquarie 1810 to 1821
For the 200th anniversary of Lachlan Macquarie’s governorship, this exhibition tells the story of his contribution to colonial Australia.
ONE hundred
For the Mitchell Library’s centenary, ONE hundred items presented to tell some aspect of the Australian and Pacific story.
Exhibitions prior to 2010
Past exhibitions from 2006 to 2016 are in the State Library archive and past exhibitions prior to 2005 are archived in Trove.
Please note that content in archives may not always work as expected and that it cannot be updated.
| Vaniman Panorama | 20 June 2009 to 8 November 2009 |
| Charles Darwin Down Under, 1836 | 4 April 2009 to 26 July 2009 |
| Heritage Collection 2009 | 1 January 2009 to 13 November 2009 |
| The Magic Pudding: Watercolours by Norman Lindsay | 15 December 2008 to 29 March 2009 |
| Bondi Jitterbug: George Caddy and his Camera | 29 November 2008 to 22 February 2009 |
| Wisdom | 18 October 2008 to 16 November 2008 |
| Home Truths | 18 August 2008 to 7 December 2008 |
| STUDIO: Australian painters photographed by R.Ian Lloyd | 23 June 2008 to 12 October 2008 |
| Dockside: Sydney's working harbour, 1840-1875 | 5 May 2008 to 10 August 2008 |
| Politics & Power: Bligh's Sydney Rebellion 1808 | 21 January 2008 to 27 April 2008 |
| Heritage Collection 2008 | 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 |
| Impact: A changing land | 10 November 2007 to 24 February 2008 |
| Equinity | 8 October 2007 to 13 January 2008 |
| A Grand Obsession: The DS Mitchell Story | 18 June 2007 to 30 September 2007 |
| Max Dupain — Modernist | 9 June 2007 to 23 September 2007 |
| Sydney Harbour : Seldom Scene | 5 March 2007 to 10 June 2007 |
| Heritage Collection 2007 | 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007 |
| On the Run: Daring Convict Escapes | 6 November 2006 to 25 February 2007 |
| Bound for Glory: Exquisite Books of French Pacific Voyages | 23 October 2006 to 25 February 2007 |
| An Unbroken View: early nineteenth century panoramas | 10 June 2006 to 15 October 2006 |
| Eora: Mapping Aboriginal Sydney 1770–1850 | 5 June 2006 to 13 August 2006 |
| First Sight: the Dutch mapping of Australia 1606-1697 | 6 March 2006 to 4 June 2006 |
| Exotica: The Macquarie Collectors Chest | 7 December 2005 to 26 February 2006 |
| David Moore to 100 photographs | 12 November 2005 to 5 March 2006 |
| The Shearers to Photographs by Andrew Chapman | 15 August 2005 to 27 November 2005 |
| Any news of La Pérouse? | 15 August 2005 to 30 October 2005 |
| Reclaiming Felix the Cat | 2 May 2005 to 7 August 2005 |
| Kisch in Australia | 14 February 2005 to 24 April 2005 |
| Heritage Collection 2005 | 1 February 2005 to 1 February 2006 |
| eye 4 photography | 8 January 2005 to 12 June 2005 |
| Upon a painted ocean to Sir Oswald Brierly | 18 October 2004 to 6 February 2005 |
| Pride of Place | 27 September 2004 to 28 November 2004 |
| The Power Elite | 27 September 2004 to 28 November 2004 |
| Vive la différence! The French in NSW | 7 June 2004 to 10 October 2004 |
| Miles Franklin: A brilliant career? | 1 March 2004 to 20 June 2004 |
| This Working Life | 1 March 2004 to 20 June 2004 |
| Matthew Flinders: the Ultimate Voyage | 1 December 2003 to 1 February 2004 |
| Run the Ball! Australian Rugby | 30 August 2003 to 30 November 2003 |
| The Picture Gallery, Freeman Studio | 23 August 2003 to May 2004 |
| Max Dupain's Australians | 7 July 2003 to 1 February 2004 |
| Champions: Australian Sporting Greats | 5 July 2003 to 16 November 2003 |
| Frederick Garling | 5 May 2003 to 10 August 2003 |
| Stella Bowen: art, love & war | 18 March 2003 to 18 May 2003 |
| Freestyle: The Bondi Beach Cole Classic | 16 December 2002 to 2 March 2003 |
| Private lives: Families of NSW | 29 October 2002 to 3 February 2002 |
| Roll up! Roll up!: circus photographs by Brendan Esposito | 9 September 2002 to 1 December 2002 |
| Lines on the ice: Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914 | 8 July 2002 to 27 October 2002 |
| George Edwards Peacock | 13 May 2002 to 27 April 2003 |
| Villas of Darlinghurst | 28 January 2002 to 23 June 2002 |
| Painting the Pacific | 28 January 2002 to 28 April 2002 |
| Matthew Flinders: the ultimate voyage | 1 October 2001 to 13 January 2002 |
| A different perspective: Vaniman, the acrobatic photographer | 9 July 2001 to 14 October 2001 |
| Shifting ground: photographs by Frank Hurley 1911-1918 | 9 April 2001 to 9 September 2001 |
| Australian colonial art | 5 March 2001 to June 2001 |
| Belonging. a century celebrated | 3 January 2001 to 1 April 2001 |
| Legends — The art of Walter Barnett | 27 December 2000 to 18 February 2001 |
| A vision for Australia | 16 October 2000 to 10 December 2000 |
| Weird + wonderful Sydney | 14 August 2000 to 14 January 2001 |
| Shutter speed | 7 August 2000 to 29 October 2000 |
| Travellers' tales — Journeys through the State Library collections | 3 April 2000 to 6 August 2000 |
| Crux — Rare maps from the State Library of New South Wales | 20 March 2000 to 30 July 2000 |
| The Picture Gallery to Backler & friends | 15 February 2000 to 16 July 2000 |
| Max Dupain's Sydney | 27 September 1999 to 5 March 2000 |
| The art of Audubon & Gould | 13 September 1999 to 12 January 2000 |
| Ivor Hele, the heroic figure | 21 June 1999 to 12 September 1999 |
| Sydney eccentrics | 22 April 1999 to 29 August 1999 |
| The Picture Gallery | 15 February 1999 to 7 November 1999 |
| Australians in black & white | 15 February 1999 to 6 June 1999 |
| All human life | 21 December 1998 to 31 January 1999 |
| The summer game | November 1998 to November 1999 |
| In their own image — Greek Australians | 12 September 1998 to 10 January 1999 |
| Dare to know — the art and science of Pacific voyages | 22 June 1998 to 27 November 1998 |
| Dare to know — the art and science of Pacific voyages | 22 June 1998 to 27 November 1998 |
| The architect's sketchbook | 8 April 1998 to 16 August 1998 |
| William Yang, diaries: a retrospective exhibition | 4 February 1998 to 10 May 1998 |
| A rage for curiosity | 1 September 1997 to 11 January 1998 |
| The studio of Max Dupain — post war photographs | 11 August1997 to 7 December 1997 |
| Possessed | 3 March 1997 to 29 June 1997 |