The Bleakley Collection
Collected by Robert Bleakley during his tenure as Head of Tribal Art at Sotheby’s in the 1970s, this significant collection of Aboriginal objects offers a rare opportunity to engage with the material culture of First Nations communities from across Australia. Comprising carved tools, ceremonial objects and early examples of cultural exchange, many of the objects were originally taken to Britain by colonial travellers as 'souvenirs'.  The collection invites critical reflection on histories of collection, displacement and the enduring cultural knowledge embodied in each object. 

Elisabeth Cummings
Over the last two decades, Elisabeth Cummings has produced an extraordinary body of prints of great authority and power. Much of this activity is due to her collaboration with Cicada Press (UNSW Art and Design, Sydney), who proof and edition her plates. Many of her prints relate to her paintings, while others extend the artist’s already sophisticated grasp of her favoured mediums (predominantly etching, but also monotype and lithography) in original compositions. The works on paper included in this exhibition have recently been gifted to the Moree Cultural Art Foundation by Elisabeth in 2024.

Trevor Nickolls
Dubbed “the father of urban Aboriginal art” by First Nations artist and curator Brenda Croft, Trevor Nickolls (1949–2012) trained at the South Australian School of Art, studying European art history. Towards the end of his post-graduate degree, he saw First Nations art for the first time. A highlight of his career was being represented at the 1990 Venice Biennale, with his painting “Manly Dreaming” alongside artwork by Rover Thomas. The painting is an interpretation of the view from a Sydney studio he rented in artist Keith Looby’s house, which had a magnificent view across the harbour. ‘Manly Dreaming’ and ‘Untitled Landscape’ are on display as part of the Cultural Gifts exhibition.

Dick Watkins
Working with form, line and colour, largely self-taught artist and pioneer of abstract painting in Australia, Watkins is represented in the collections of many state and regional galleries, and numerous distinguished corporate and private art collections in Australia. Dick Watkins lives and works in Sydney, Australia. His triptych, ‘Elephants’, ‘Hammer and Forge’ and ‘Antigone’, is on display in the upstairs galleries as part of the Cultural Gifts exhibition.