PAST PROGRAM
Celebrating 50 years:
1975—2025
In 2025 the Women’s Art Register celebrated 50 years as Australia’s living archive of women’s art practice. The diverse program of exhibitions, workshops, talks and special events took place across Naarm and beyond.
The program shone a light on W.A.R’s five decades of dedication to enhancing the status and ongoing contributions of Australian women and gender diverse artists. You can read more about the program of events below.
Visit the following links for our major 50th Anniversary projects:
Unseen | Landmarks 75/25 | Keeping Things Together | outWARds
Talking Back Roundtable
Thursday 20 March, 6–7pm
George Paton Gallery
1/159 Monash Rd, Parkville
Lucy Lippards’ 1975 talk at the George Paton Gallery is the stuff of legend, helping galvanise the forces that led to W.A.R’s formation. Fifty years on, that spirit of defiance persists even if, unsurprisingly, the times are very different.
The evening invited guests to share their insights on art, the archive and feminism in a panel-led open forum featuring Meredith Rogers, Nur Shkembi, Kate Just and Azza Zein. Moderated by Anna Daly. The Roundtable was part of the Landmarks 75/25 exhibition programming.
Common Threads Redux Workshop
Friday 28 March, 1–3pm
George Paton Gallery
1/159 Monash Rd, Parkville
Common Threads is a board game designed for exploring the creative potential of the archive. The emphasis is firmly on play, with participants being guided through a series of questions and activities that invite hands-on engagement with key Women’s Art Register holdings, including slides.
The Common Threads game was originally designed in 2021 by Azza Zein and Sophie Calalasina to draw on and critically engage with past Register projects that championed inclusivity and diversity. It was first presented and played at a workshop day in late 2021 following a two-week residency at Seventh Gallery.
Kampala Calling: A dialogue between artists in Uganda and Australia
Tuesday 22 April, 8–9.30pm
Online event
Growing out of the NEST (Network for Empowerment, Solidarity and Transregionality) project initiated by AWARE (Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions) in Paris in 2024, W.A.R. collaborated with the Njabala Foundation in Kampala, Uganda, to develop an artist exchange program.
At this first online exchange, Founding Director Martha Kazungu presented an introduction to the Obulo Bwaffe multi-disciplinary arts festival, which included the 2025 Annual Njabala Exhibition (ANE). The festival as a whole is a declaration of ownership and re-examination of the Obulo Bwaffe folklore story through a contemporary feminist lens, celebrating the power, knowledge and unwavering agency of women.
Checking In: Women’s Art Register Member Catch-ups
Thursday 5 June, 6.30–7pm
Thursday 7 August, 6.30–7pm
Online events
These virtual gathering ran in June and August for members and their plus ones as a way to disseminate information and reminders about 50th Anniversary events. It was also an opportunity to ask any burning questions and share suggestions and feedback to help ensure W.A.R.’s 50th programming had something for everyone.
Unfolding: A Queer & Feminist Zine-Making Workshop
Saturday 16 August, 1–4pm
Victorian Pride Centre
79–81 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
A collaborative zine-making workshop hosted by the Women's Art Register and the Australian Queer Archives. Guided by Tiger Salmon, co-creator of Wicked Women and Lauren Facci, creator of High Rotation, participants explored the documentation of our histories and the notions of identity, gender and sexuality through creating a personalised zine with archival material.
A zine can be personal, collaborative, political or a nonsensical publication which can preserve a moment in time through the act of making. Unfolding encouraged participants to bring material from their own personal archives to connect with the material provided.
Magic and Mayhem: Studio Visits with W.A.R. Members
26 August, 23 September, 25 October & 22 November
Online and in-person events
These studio visits provided an opportunity for Women’s Art Register members to get up close and personal with four Australian women artists and discover insights into their practices and studio set-ups, as well as ask questions.
The artists hosting the visits were all long-standing members of the Register: Carmel O’Connor, Gail Stiffe, Rox de Luca and Denise Keele-bedford.
Celebrating Olive Cotton’s Legacy and Women’s Artistic Contributions
Saturday 18 October, from 11am
Heide Museum of Art
7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen
In collaboration with Heide Museum of Art, we hosted a talk on Olive Cotton presented by Lesley Harding (Artistic Director, Heide) and Gael Newton (Art Historian). This compelling discussion confronted the systemic erasure of the legacy of women artists by examining the posthumous ‘forgetting’ of Olive Cotton, a pivotal figure in Australian photographic history.
The talk was strategically positioned within the broader context of the Man Ray and Max Dupain exhibition which ran at Heide from August to November 2025.
Book Launch + End of Year Party
Friday 14 November, 6.30–9pm
Queen Victoria Women's Centre
210 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
This celebration was the final event in our 50th Anniversary program, launching our publication Keeping things together: 50 years of the Women’s Art Register and seeing off the end of a milestone anniversary year.
The festivities were largely informal, with drinks and conversation on the rooftop of the iconic Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. Meredith Rogers, who was there at W.A.R.’s inception, launched the book.
Copies of Keeping things together were for sale on the night, as were the 50th Anniversary posters designed by artist Katie Sfetkidis.
The Women's Art Register 50th Anniversary program is supported by the City of Yarra.
