Awesome Achievers: Stories from Australians of the Year, A National Portrait Gallery exhibition

Kerrie Lester, Fred Hollows, 1993, oil on hand-stitched canvas, 256.5 x 134 cm

Awesome Achievers: Stories from Australians of the Year has been developed exclusively to tour, with major portraits drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection and supplemented with some works from private sources. This dynamic exhibition will showcase selected Australian of the Year recipients from diverse fields of endeavour.

Featuring around 40 works across a range of media, complemented with audio-visual material, the exhibition will showcase 28 recipients from diverse fields of endeavour in eight thematic rather than chronological groupings. In grouping the portraits into eight key themes, the exhibition aims to bring to life the underlying complex and shifting notions of national identity that are exemplified or challenged in the person and portrait of each selected recipient. An inspiring array of talent and achievement — with many examples of triumph over adversity — is celebrated in this exhibition.

The NPG has developed an online cross-curriculum learning resource for upper primary school students. Click here for more information

This exhibition is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.

26 November 2016 – 5 February 2017