The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) are thrilled to have received funding from the Australian Government to begin developing a joint touring exhibition with the working title ‘Portraits from the Movies’.
“I am delighted that the NPG and NFSA are embarking on this groundbreaking collaboration. I am captivated by the extraordinary stories about pioneers of Australian film that we will together be able to reveal through portraiture. The project will build on the NPG’s established program of national touring exhibitions and would not be possible without the NCITO funding. Our team is looking forward to working closely with the NFSA as we develop the show over the next two years.” Angus Trumble, Director, National Portrait Gallery commented.

Meg Labrum, NFSA General Manager, Collection explained that ‘Portraits from the Movies’ is the first ever joint project by two national collecting institutions to be supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach (NCITO) Program. Drawn from the rich collections of both the NFSA and NPG, the exhibition will tell the story of the Australian film landscape through the faces of its actors – both famous and unknown – from the early 20th century through to today. The exhibition, scheduled to tour from late 2017.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for the NFSA and NPG to collaborate by doing what we both do best. These truly unique portrait images from the NFSA’s collection will result in an exciting touring exhibition, reaching out to Australia at large. The opportunity to open up the doors to this material and reveal the diversity of our audiovisual history and its personalities is a first for us all, and may surprise many!” Ms Labrum commented.