Take a trip through time at the National Library this March. Hear about Australia’s controversial purchase of an iconic artwork, examine the radical experiment of ACT self-government, uncover the forgotten history of an award-winning playwright, and watch a moving documentary about the Black Summer fire season.

Our new exhibition Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive will also be in full swing so don’t miss this impressive journey through photojournalism history. 

Program

Book launch: Blues Poles by Tom McIlroy

Monday 3 March | 6:00pm to 7:00pm | Free

Join journalist Tom McIlroy as he discusses his new book,  Blue Poles. An iconic American painting. An Australian controversy. Where art and politics, myth-making and modernism intersect, there is  Blue Poles by Jackson Pollock. Tom McIlroy uncovers a fascinating story of the painter, the politics and the national scandal that followed.

Canberra Day Oration 2025: Gary Humphries AO

Wednesday 12 March | 6:00pm to 7:00pm | Free

The Canberra & District Historical Society proudly present the 2025 Canberra Day Oration. Gary Humphries AO will deliver the 2025 address:  Has ACT self-government been a success? Mr Humphries served as an Australian politician for almost 25 years at both ACT territory and federal levels. He is presently enrolled as an PhD student in the School of History at the Australian National University, where he is writing the first history of ACT self-government.

Discovering Millicent Armstrong with Dianna Nixon

Wednesday 19 March | 6:00pm to 7:00pm | $15 Friends members; $20 Non-members

Join the Friends of the National Library and Dianna Nixon of Music Theatre Projects Ltd as she shares with us her 9-year journey uncovering the life and work of the playwright, Millicent Armstrong.

Remembering the fires: How one community has recorded their memories

Saturday 29 March | 11:00am to 2:00pm | Free

Join us for a special event that will explore some of the ways in which southern NSW community members have told and preserved their bushfire stories. There will be a screening of documentary  The Day She Stole the Sun, followed by a panel discussion with Rhonda Ayliffe (Cobargo Bushfire Resilience Centre), James G Logue (Crewcible Studio), and Dr Mary Hutchison (oral historian). The event will be chaired by Dr Scott McKinnon (National Library of Australia).

Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive

Currently showing | 9:00am to 5:00pm daily | Free

Explore the art of photojournalism with highlights from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by renowned photojournalist Mike Bowers. With images printed from the original glass-plate negatives the exhibition explores how the pioneers of press photography in Australia developed their storytelling skills while also creating a lasting record of Australian society in the opening decades of the 20th century.

COVID-19 Oral History Collecting Project

Since January 2024, the National Library of Australia has been working on one of its largest-ever oral history projects. Already, over 160 interviews have been recorded, and these will form part of the Australian Responses to COVID-19 Oral History Project. The goal is to preserve a diverse range of voices to document how the pandemic reshaped Australian society. We’d like to invite listeners and readers to participate in the oral history interviews about their experiences.

For more information about each event and bookings please visit the relevant event webpages.

To arrange an interview with a spokesperson about any event, please contact 0401 226 697 or media@nla.gov.au 

E: media@nla.gov.au

Contact

Lauren Conron, Media Liaison, National Library of Australia 

M: 0401 226 697  

E: media@nla.gov.au