Stories from our exhibitions

Current exhibitions

Daring and devotion

The art of Sydney couple George and Charis Schwarz defies neat categories, but their body of work will be preserved.

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Paintings from the Collection More than 300 original artworks from the Library’s unique collection of landscape and portrait paintings on permanent public display.

Convict artists in the time of Governor Macquarie

Many used their art to record and interpret the landscape and people of the early settlement.

Eternally yours

Buried deep down in the cool darkness of the Library’s framed picture store hangs a beautiful portrait of the young Mrs F O’Brien. It was painted in mid-1841 by naval surgeon-turned artist Maurice Felton from a death mask.

Conrad Martens and George Edwards Peacock: Sydney artists

Artists have always been attracted to the natural beauty of Sydney Harbour and its foreshores.
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Past exhibitions

Flash mob

Photographs from the Deadly Awards by Jamie James.

Dead Central: the Devonshire Street cemetery

Established in 1820, this cemetery became the final resting place for many Sydney-siders throughout the 19th century. The land was finally cleared in 1901 to make way for Sydney's new Central Station.

Arthur Moon, prisoner of war, 1943

Records of life in a Japanese POW camp, buried in 1943.

Quick march! The children of World War I

To mark the centenary of the peace year, 1919, we take an intimate look at the lives of children during the ‘war to end all wars’.

Stories from our migrant and refugee communities

The interviews delve into the personal stories of recently arrived migrants and their new lives in New South Wales, starting from birth and childhood and covering the (often harrowing) reasons they were compelled to leave their homes and seek safety in another country.

Armistice and peace: 'now that the war is over we realise what we’ve been through'

‘The Armistice – agreeing to cease hostilities’ was signed between Germany, France and Britain at 5 am on the morning of 11 November.

Memories on glass: extraordinary images of late 19th and early 20th century Sydney

In the days before digital and film photography, images were often taken on glass. But from the 1880s, development of ready-to-use 'dry plate' negatives and simpler cameras saw the rise of amateur photography.

Internee collections: diaries of ‘enemy aliens’

During the First World War nearly 7000 ‘enemy aliens’, mainly of German and Austro-Hungarian origin, were interned in camps in Australia. The Library’s collection of papers of ‘enemy aliens’ interned in Australia during WW1 contains around 40 handwritten diaries written by internees.

The Magic Pudding

In October 1918 Angus & Robertson published what would become one of Australia’s best known children’s stories: The Magic Pudding.

Woollen comforts from home

It is estimated that over one million pairs of socks were knitted by Australian women and children during the war. 

George Bell, prisoner of war

George Bell was a bank officer from Port Headland, Western Australia.

World War I diaries

The Library's collection of World War I diaries offers a glimpse into the life of Australians at war.