Upcoming Programming

8 October 2025 – 5 February 2026

In 1972 the Whitlam Government came to power following the bold and influential advertising campaign Its Time. Launched in Blacktown, the campaign focussed heavily on the nation’s economy, healthcare, city planning, the Vietnam War and social justice. It was seen as need and time for change in Australia after 23 years of conservative Australian government.

The Whitlam Government brought about a vast range of reforms in the 1071 days it held office between December 5, 1972 and November 11, 1975. In its first year alone, it passed 203 bills - more legislation than any other federal government had passed in a single year.

This year marks 50 years since Governor General Sir John Kerr removed Whitlam as Prime Minister, the first and only time this has ever happened in Australian history.

The dismissal was seen as an "assault on democracy", and shocked the country. As Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking author of The Palace Letters: The Queen, the governor-general, and the plot to dismiss Gough Whitlam notes “The Dismissal to this day is the most vivid demonstration of a Constitutional crisis in our nation’s history”

One cannot help but wonder what Australia may have become if the Whitlam Government remained in power.

Where to from here? Visions for Australia asks 12 Western Sydney artists to respond the Whitlam Prime Ministerial collection, with the question where is Australia now? where are we heading? where do we see ourselves in the future?

Artists:
Anney Bounpraseuth, Linda Bresica, Travis De Vries, Jagath Dheerasekara, Mehwish Iqbal, Monica Rani Rudhar, Khaled Sabsabi, Marikit Santiago, Feras Shaheen, Chris Tobin, Garry Trinh and Justine Youssef

2026 Western Sydney Creative Artist Commission

The Western Sydney Creative Artist Commission is exciting annual award supporting the development and creation of new art by a Western Sydney* mid-career artistor artists’ collective brought to you by Western Sydney University.

The Commission will be awarded to an artist or artists’ collectives for the purpose of producing an ambitious new work, which will be presented as part of Western Sydney University’s 2026 exhibition program as a solo exhibition with a curated engaging public program to be presented in the Margaret Whitlam Galleries, located within the Parramatta South Campus on Dharug land.

It is envisaged that the exhibition would take place in the two riverside galleries – the small and long gallery, with an activation space on the Northern Side gallery. The interactive studio space is a key component of the Commission. It provides an opportunity for students, staff and the wider community to engage with art making and idea development.

The approach can be very open and flexible. For example, you may choose to:

• Present a series of workshops these could be delivered by you or other artists during the exhibition;
• Create a drop in space where visitors can produce their ‘own’ response;
• Host talks, panels or lives performances.

Key dates
Expression of Interest Open: 30 July 2025
Expression of Interest Close: 3 September 2025 11:59pm
Notification of successful applicant: 19 September 2025
Installation: 25 May – 5 June 2026
Exhibition Dates: 10 June – 3 September 2026

Payment Schedule

• $20,000 for the creation of a significant new artwork/s for the exhibition.
• $5,000 exhibition/performance fee which includes the loan of existing artworks/performances in addition to new works.
• $5,000 for concepts and delivery of an interactive studio space and associated exhibition public programme.

21 August

Italian toy piano and toy instrument specialist Antonietta Loffredo will perform a variety of contemporary and classical works by Australian and International composers in this one-of-a-kind recital dedicated to musical toys. Using a collection of toy pianos, bells, rain sticks, and even a wooden spoon, Antonietta will present an exciting and experimental concert toshowcase the range and depth of these unconventional instruments. 

Antonietta will be joined by special local WSU guests, Paul Smith, Shufang Zhang and John Encarnacao and the concert will culminate in the rarely performed Toy Symphony written by Josef Haydn in 1760.

About Antonietta Loffedo

Antonietta Loffredo, pianist and musicologist, is a graduate of the Conservatorio “F.E. Dall’Abaco” in Italy and of the Conservatoire Niedermeyer d’Issy les Moulineaux in France. She earned a Master of Music degree in musicology from the University of Milan with a thesis on the toy piano. An acclaimed interpreter of the contemporary piano and toy piano repertoire, she has performed in Europe, the Middle East, USA, Australia, New Zealand and she has been holding lectures and conferences around the world on the subject of piano and toy piano in contemporary art music. Her CDs of newly composed piano and toy piano music include Childhood in Music, Shadows and Silhouettes – new music with a Chinese-Western confluence, Antarctica – new music for piano and/or toy piano released by Wirripang Pty. Ltd. and The Toy Piano Takes the Stage released by DaVinci Classics (Japan). Her book, “The Toy Piano - From the Playroom to the Concert Platform” (Ut Orpheus, Bologna, 2018), has been awarded the 2023 ITRA Senior Prize for Outstanding Toy Research (International Toy Research Association). Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Bologna (Italy), conducting research on toy instruments in art music.