Our mini-exhibition borrowed over 30 pieces from sister institutions, nine from the State Library of NSW. The SLNSW asked Kate to write about our borrowings, publishing this article in their magazine in January. It was designed also to spruik their own newly opened and lush art galleries. Kate’s article delves into the histories behind three of the portraits – those of the NSW Governor Phillip Gidley King, Sydney’s chaplain Samuel Marsden, and Nga Puhi leader Te Pahi.

“The portraits of Te Pahi, King and Marsden recreate [a] trio of shared interests and mutual learning in a way that is often otherwise lost. Our contemporary histories are so defined by colonial achievements, and by the nation states that arose out of them, that we neglect earlier, wider-regional tales of significant imperial-Indigenous interaction. The portraits currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery urge us to look again at the pictures hanging now in the Library’s own refurbished galleries. They disclose stories of richer relationships and broader contexts than we know.” 

For the whole article see the PDF of the issue here.