The CDU Art Collection and Art Gallery is a community engagement initiative of Charles Darwin University.
Through our exhibitions, public programs and permanent art collection, we celebrate, embrace and share with Australia the extraordinary art and culture of the Northern Territory, which is home to the world’s oldest living culture, and connected to the rich and diverse cultures of our Asia Pacific neighbours.
With the support of CDU, and with our home and heart in the Northern Territory, we will fearlessly explore and question, and imaginatively present and document, identity and placemaking initiatives that support learning and appreciation of how the world is experienced and imagined through the art and eyes of artists who live in or have a connection with our unique place in Australia and the world. Please visit our Art Gallery and find exhibition room brochures from past internally-curated exhibitions.
CDU Art Gallery
CDU Art Gallery presents a program of exhibitions in its state-of-the-art gallery located at the university’s Casuarina campus, Darwin as part of the university’s community engagement activity.
Three to four exhibitions are presented annually that reflect our place in the world as well as present the creative expression of Northern Territory artists. On occasion, exhibitions relating to neighbouring Southeast Asia are also presented.
Exhibitions are professionally curated by CDU staff, guest curators or incoming-touring exhibitions on loan from other Australian cultural institutions.
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Public programs
The CDU Art Gallery was officially opened in 2009. Alongside our exhibitions, we also host a range of public programs with artists, curators and academics.
CDU Art Collection
The CDU Art Collection is a medium-sized museum collection with a gestation period of around 40 years, predating the establishment of the University itself. The collection currently consists of more than 3,500 individual artworks, making it the second-largest public art collection in the Northern Territory and the only university art collection north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
The CDU Art Collection is focused on artists who live and work in the Northern Territory and/or have a connection to the Northern Territory – thus it is an important repository of artworks by Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous artists. Artworks by artists from the nearby regions of Kimberly, Western Australia and far North Queensland, as well as Indonesia and Timor-Leste are also held in the collection – reflecting the University’s regional and international networks.
The CDU Art Collection is acknowledged for its unique and extensive collection of limited-edition prints (primarily Northern Territory University Printmaking workshop and CDU-based Northern Editions) and is also the largest repository of works by Therese Ritchie, Chips Mackinolty and Franck Gohier.
Approximately 60% of the CDU Art Collection are works on paper; limited edition prints as well as paintings. In addition to works on paper, 25% of the CDU collection are works on canvas, including a significant collection of bark paintings. The remainder of the collection (15%) includes ceramics, sculptures, fibre works and textiles as well as a Balinese wayang kulit shadow puppet collection.
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On-campus art display program
The CDU Art Collection on-campus display program presents artworks from the collection at Casuarina, Palmerston and the Darwin Waterfront campuses.
It is a significant place-making exercise that enables students and staff to appreciate our place in the world with art displayed in the CDU Council Room, auditoriums, meeting rooms, libraries, learning and study spaces as well as offices.
View the terms and conditions (DOCX, 870.85 KB) of borrowing artwork for on-campus displays.
Governance
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Scott Bowman AO is Patron of the Charles Darwin University Art Collection and Art Gallery.
The CDU Art Gallery Advisory Committee (AGAC) advise on the operations and strategic direction of the CDU Art Collection and Art Gallery in accordance with the CDU Art Gallery Advisory Committee Terms of Reference. This committee is led Ms Anna Malgorzewicz, Chairperson and is comprised of experts from within and beyond the University.
The CDU Art Collection and Art Gallery is an operational unit within the Office of Advancement.
CDU Art Collection Policy reflects the University's vision, mission and goals, to develop a significant and well-regarded institutional art collection that supports teaching and learning programs, as well as community engagement initiatives within northern Australia and Southeast Asia. The principles, processes and guidelines that govern the ongoing management and administration of the Charles Darwin University art collection outline the acquisition, documentation, storage, care, security, exhibition and display, publication, loan and de-accession of the art collection, as well as copyright and ethical obligations.
The CDU Gallery Spaces Use Policy outlines the principles for the use of the CDU Art Gallery and other galleries.
CDU Art Collection and Art Gallery is a member of University Art Museum Australia (UAMA) and Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) – NT Branch.
Our staff
Dr Joanna Barrkman has been the Curator, Charles Darwin University Art Collection and Art Gallery since 2015. She worked as a curator at the Fowler Museum at UCLA (Los Angeles), National Gallery of Australia (Canberra) and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Darwin). She holds a doctorate from the Australian National University.
Joanna has curated exhibitions in Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and the USA. She curated of the major exhibition Australian Screen-printed Textiles from Australia’s Top End at the Fowler Museum UCLA and was the editor of the eponymous publication which was awarded Rob E.L. Shep Textile Book Award by the Textile Society of America in 2020. Joanna also co-curated Textiles of Timor: island in the woven sea at the Fowler Museum and co-edited the eponymous publication in 2014.
Eileen Lim is the Exhibitions and Collection Officer at CDU Art Collection and Art Gallery. Eileen commenced in 2011 as a volunteer and intern assisting in documentation of the Red Hand Prints gifted to the CDU Art Collection in 2004. She is a graduate of a Bachelor of Creative Arts and Industries (Fine Arts) at Charles Darwin University.
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Art Collection
ExploreComprising of more than 3,500 artworks, the CDU Art Collection is presented in public exhibitions and on-campus displays. Artworks from a range of mediums – printmaking, painting, ceramic, fibre, textile, and sculpture – are represented in the CDU Art Collection, which grows annually through acquisition, donation and cultural gifts.
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On-campus art displays
Learn moreThe CDU Art Collection on-campus display program presents artworks from the collection at Casuarina, Palmerston and the Darwin Waterfront campuses.