Bendigo Art Gallery

19/06/2026

This painting is from an expansive body of work under the title 'Still Life After Penn', which explores the practices of universities and museums in terms of the representation of Indigenous people and histories and the widespread violent histories of collecting and keeping human remains. Shen explains:

“Still life after Penn is a complex interrogation of many things. It seeks to begin dialogues about what is right and what is wrong, about the living and the dead, and the spaces in between, while simultaneously interrogating the practices of museums historically and in the here and now.
I know these are not just skulls and femurs, after all, my family and community in South Australia endured the dehumanising and culturally violent practices of having remains and bodies stolen, dug from the earth or taken from hospital morgues in the dark of night by anthropologists and physicians. Although many have made their way home, the remains of my Aboriginal ancestors still sit in boxes within the collection stores of museums here in Australia and abroad, waiting to be returned to their homelands.”

Stroll along View Street in Bendigo and discover The People’s Gallery, where iconic works from 150 years of the collection are brought into the open.

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Damien Shen (Ngarrindjeri and Chinese descent), 'Still Life After Penn', 2016.
oil on board 40.4cm x 40.5cm. Gift of The Hon Paul M Guest OAM QC, 2022. Image courtesy of the artist and MARS Gallery. Photographer: Ian Hill.

16/06/2026

Starting out as an artist can feel unclear, isolating and difficult to navigate.

Join Stepping Out 2026, where you can gain practical advice, hear real experiences, and discover clear pathways into the arts sector from artists and industry professionals in our region, including a session with Bendigo Art Gallery curator Lauren Ellis.

More information and bookings: https://stepping-out-2026.eventbrite.com.au/

Discover new exhibition pathways and opportunities for regional creatives at Stepping Out 2026.

Hear from leading institutions and organisations — Bendigo Art Gallery, La Trobe Art Institute, Regional Arts Victoria and City of Greater Bendigo — about the artists and projects they support.






Saturday 20 June
La Trobe Art Institute
Register via the link in bio

14/06/2026

A senior weaver and cultural knowledge holder, Aunty Marilyne learned her craft from her mother and grandmother, carrying forward a living tradition rooted in kinship, Country and community.

A multi-clan woman with connections to freshwater and saltwater Country, her weaving practice is deeply connected to her custodianship of waterways. Regenerating and gathering the natural weaving fibres which grow in and around water is an integral part of her work, and through 'Woven', these relationships become visible at a civic scale.

In this monumental commission, Aunty Marilyne’s expert coil weaving is transformed in scale, recreated through cutting-edge scanning and moulding technology and embedded permanently into the façade of Bendigo Art Gallery's new View Street building.

'Woven' reflects on cycles and connections: between people and generations, Country, plants and waterways, and between the past and future. It honours women's cultural knowledge and creates a lasting connection between past, present and future generations.

When Bendigo Art Gallery reopens in 2028, visitors will encounter a building shaped by artistic and cultural expression from the outside in.

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Photo: Leon Schoots.

12/06/2026

We are proud to announce 'Woven', a major public artwork commission by senior weaver and cultural knowledge holder Aunty Marilyne Nicholls.

Embedded within the façade of the Gallery's new View Street building, this monumental work weaves First Nations knowledge, culture and Country into the very fabric of Bendigo Art Gallery's future.

When the Gallery reopens in 2028, Woven will be among the first things visitors encounter, a permanent and enduring expression of First Nations cultural knowledge for all who come.

For more information: https://bit.ly/theGalleryfaçade

10/06/2026

Thomas Sheard was a highly regarded British academic painter specialising in landscapes, portraits and figurative works. He studied in Paris and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, London, and became Professor of Art at Queen’s College. It is believed that Sheard first visited Algeria in the mid-1890s; Sheard and many of his contemporaries were fascinated with North Africa and Egypt.

The French-occupied territories of the region readily enabled expeditions by British and French artists in the late 19th century and the Orientalist movement which flourished in in 19th century European academies and societies of art catered to an exaggerated European imagination of an exotic ‘Orient’.

The Arab Blacksmith is inspired by the artist’s observations in large market towns of semi-nomadic Arabic-speaking traders—perhaps Bedouin—although the accuracy of this depiction and the subjects’ identities are not clear.

Stroll along View Street in Bendigo and discover The People’s Gallery, where iconic works from 150 years of the collection are brought into the open.

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Thomas Sheard, ‘The Arab Blacksmith’ (detail), c1900, oil on canvas.
Bendigo Art Gallery Collection, purchased 1903
Photographer: Unknown

05/06/2026

Award-winning Bendigo artist Lauren Starr created this portrait of her young daughter using an analogue process of physically placing painted objects in a scene, and photographing it from above using a ladder, rather than digitally layering and building the complex image.

The image and title reference the allegorical Greek myth of King Midas, who accidentally turned his daughter to gold by embracing her – losing his greatest love in his insatiable pursuit of material wealth.

The history of Bendigo, and women’s stories, are recurring themes in Starr’s creative practice. The cautionary message in the myth of King Midas prompts reflection on the devastation caused by the pursuit of gold in Bendigo’s own story.

Stroll along View Street in Bendigo and discover The People’s Gallery, where iconic works from 150 years of the collection are brought into the open.

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Lauren Starr, ‘Midas’ Daughter II – Golden Still Life’, 2022. photographic print, AP. Gift of an Anonymous Donor, 2023. Image credit: Image courtesy of the artist.

03/06/2026

Plan your winter holiday now!

Warm up the school holidays with hands‑on art making and creative exploration alongside the Gallery Learn team, illumination artist Laura Jade, and kinetic artist Alex Sanson at the Discovery Science and Technology Centre.

From creating glowing artworks with simple circuits to designing illuminated constellations and bringing LEGO® creations to life through motion, animation and craft, there’s plenty for young creatives to explore.

1 – 10 July 2026
Discovery Science & Technology Centre
7 Railway Place, Bendigo

Free, but bookings are required.
Booking: https://bit.ly/EmergingArtLeaders_winter2026

01/06/2026

Rosalie (née Korn) and Robert Kinnear emigrated to Australia from Scotland in 1851, settling in Echuca where Robert served as a Councillor and Court Magistrate.

This family portrait includes their young daughter Rosalie, who died at age four from diphtheria, a major cause of death in the 19th century. Mrs Kinnear is clothed in half mourning costume, which suggest that the painting may have been completed posthumously as a memorial to their daughter. Other allusions to the death of Rosalie include her bare foot, with one shoe and sock on the floor - a symbol of one foot in this life and one in the next – and the withered flower held by Mrs Kinnear, apparently plucked from the vase on the table.

Kinnear was an extensive art collector and commissioned numerous works, including the monumental narrative painting The Golden Wedding (1883) by German artist Carl Hoff, also now in the collection of Bendigo Art Gallery.

Stroll along View Street in Bendigo and discover The People’s Gallery, where iconic works from 150 years of the collection are brought into the open.

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Unknown artist, 'Mr and Mrs Robert Hill Kinnear and their daughter, Rosalie' (detail), 1851. oil on canvas. 124.5cm x 110cm. Gift of Mrs. Eva Kinnear, 1958

Installation view, The People's Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, 2026. Photo: Bendigo Art Gallery.

28/05/2026

‘A Primrose from England’ tells a remarkable story. When a tiny English primrose arrived in Australia, carefully kept alive in a glass case, the response from colonists was so overwhelming that a guard had to be posted to protect it.

The painting vividly captures the homesickness and nostalgia felt by colonial society and reflects a broader desire to recreate an English landscape on Australian soil. While the primrose is a common meadow flower in the United Kingdom, it was rare and highly prized in the colonies at the time.

In the Victorian era, great significance was placed on the symbolism, or “language”, of flowers. The primrose was associated with young love and carried the message, “I can’t live without you”, a sentiment likely well understood by the English audience for whom the painting was originally created. The work was later acquired by Bendigo’s most prominent gold-mining magnate, George Lansell.

Stroll along View Street in Bendigo and discover The People’s Gallery, where iconic works from 150 years of the collection are brought into the open.

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Edward William John Hopley, ‘A primrose from England’ (detail), c1855 . oil on canvas. Gift of Mr & Mrs Leonard V Lansell, 1964. Photographer: Ian Hill.

Installation view, The People's Gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, 2026. Photo: Bendigo Art Gallery.

22/05/2026

This National Reconciliation Week, we're going All In.

Join us for a free one-hour art session exploring the extraordinary work of Grace Lillian Lee, a Torres Strait Islander artist whose woven body sculptures breathe life, identity, and living culture into every thread.
Learn about her innovative 'grasshopper' weaving technique, get hands-on in a creative reflection activity, and spend an hour immersed in First Nations art from the Bendigo Art Gallery Collection.

Thu 28 May & Tue 2 June | 11am-12pm
Galkangu, Bendigo GovHub, Yapenya Meeting Room 6
Free, no booking required

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Grace Lillian Lee (Meriam Mir), ‘A weave of reflection - 1/5’, 2018
cotton webbing, cane, goose feathers, cotton yarn
Bendigo Art Gallery Collection

Grace Lillian Lee, 'Body Armour – A Weave of Reflection Pink and Orange' 2018. Model - Shantel Miskin, Photographer- Wade Lewis, Videographer -Chris Baker, Assistant - Darrin Walker, Makeup Artist - Roxanne Macaraeg + Maria Morrison, Lead Hair Stylist - Cally Densmore-Lee, Hair Stylist - The Hair Studio
Image courtesy of the artist.

Installation view, ‘Material cause: art x textiles in Bendigo Art Gallery's collection’, Bendigo Art Gallery, 2025. Photo: Bendigo Art Gallery.

Lunchtime Art Yarn 23 April session. Photo: Annie Brigdale.