Join us for the opening event of four new exhibitions.

In collaboration with chefs, cooks, and artisan food producers, Tabled presents tableware designed and made by thirteen potters in this partnership exhibition with MAG&M and The Australian Ceramics Association (TACA). The exhibition uses the terrain of the tabletop as the platform to discuss the age-old relationship between food and pots. The collaborations between potter and chef will highlight their shared connections and shared respect for their crafts. Simultaneously, these creations will explore the narratives behind the function of tableware; community, and culture.

In the adjacent gallery space, Held deepens the exploration into what nourishes us. Presented on one continuous shelf around the central gallery, the exhibition features 90 small artworks by members of TACA. The works are utilitarian and sculptural objects that lend themselves functionally or narratively to the exhibition title and showcase the diversity and excellence of contemporary Australian ceramics.

Placed is an exhibition that probes how traditional and contemporary ceramics are instrumental in fostering a sense of place, belonging, and connection. Many of the objects in MAG&M’s ceramic collection reveal stories about Australia’s unique connections with place – Indigenous relationships to Country, waves of migrant stories, connection to landscape and nature, and contemporary relationships across the Asia-Pacific. The exhibition includes objects from the MAG&M ceramic collection and borrowed works from three artists who each bring a unique perspective to the theme of ‘place, Mechelle Bounpraseuth, Ara Dolatian, and Rona Panangka Rubuntja.

Collection 100: New is the second in the series of exhibitions celebrating 100 years of public collecting at MAG&M. This exhibition will include works generously donated over the past few years by contemporary Australian artists connected to this region, or to MAG&M through its recent exhibitions. It will also feature paintings and ceramics given by private donors of artists whose artistic legacies now continue through MAG&M’s collection.

The official opening event will take place two weeks after the exhibitions open, due to the Clay Gulgong biennale event and Anzac Day.

Image detail: Kathrin Longhurst, Alpha, 2021