DANCER: A National Portrait Gallery touring exhibition

Image: Beau Dean Riley Smith, Wiradjuri and Gamilaraay nations, Bennelong 2017 (detail) from the series ‘Space in between’, Jacob Nash, Daly River © Jacob Nash
Image: Beau Dean Riley Smith, Wiradjuri and Gamilaraay nations, Bennelong 2017 (detail) from the series ‘Space in between’, Jacob Nash, Daly River © Jacob Nash

From letting loose in the lounge room to enthralling audiences on stage, this exhibition captures the experience of lives lived through dance. Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection and incorporating the work of contemporary photographers, Dancer reflects the freedom and joy of dance and its power to connect.

The exhibition features 52 works including works from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of dance legends Irina Baronova, Robert Helpmann, Hélène Kirsova, Graeme Murphy, Gideon Obarzanek, Anna Pavlova, Marilyn Rowe and Janet Vernon.

Dancer will be on display from Friday 7 February to Saturday 26 April, 2025.

Opening Hours:
Monday:               Closed
Tuesday - Friday: 10am - 5pm
Saturday:             10am - 2pm
Sunday:               Closed
Closed on Public Holidays

Dancer is a National Portrait Gallery touring exhibition.

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

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

November

Canberra: Until 1 March 2026. Women photographers 1853–2018 highlights the transformative impact of women artists on the history of photography.

Sydney: Until 11 April. Unfinished Business brings together the voices of 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disabilities from remote, regional, and urban communities across Australia.

Canberra: Until 6 Sept 2026. Trent Parke’s photographic series The Christmas tree bucket 2006–09 is a tender and darkly humorous portrayal of his extended family coming together to celebrate Christmas.

Melbourne: 28 Nov 2025 – 26 May 2026. The exhibition celebrates the wide-ranging photographic practices of more than eighty women artists working between 1900 and 1975.

February

Canberra: Until 28 Feb 2026. Two exhibitions: 1) ecologies (Arctic): Anna Munster & Michele Barker. 2) Once Was: Rebecca Wickham

Perth: 1 Feb – 1 March 2026. Head On Photo Festival is expanding its footprint to Western Australia, with an outdoor and indoor festival program running from Sunday 1 February to Sunday 1 March 2026.

Melbourne: 11 Feb – 25 April 2026. Familial brings together six international artists whose work navigates the emotional and psychological terrain of family.

March

Melbourne: 13 – 22 March 2026. Award-winning photographers Andrew Tan and Rosalind Pach invite you to explore the city as a living, shifting experience.