Previous talks and events
2024
2023
2022
2022
Artists and curators gather to discuss the key light works featured in the Museum's major exhibition, Light & Darkness. A major exhibition drawing on the University of Sydney's Power Collection, spanning the three decades of late Modernism from 1960 to 1990.
Although far from the shores of the Mediterranean, Sydney and Melbourne are home to extensive collections of Greek cultural heritage reflecting the long and varied histories and people of the Hellenic region.
Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty, has endured throughout the ages in art, architecture and storytelling. In a joint event with the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, we debate the origins of Aphrodite – did she emerge from the ocean shores of Kythera or Cyprus?
2021
Join Matt Poll, Manager Indigenous Programs at the Australian National Maritime Museum and previous Curator of Indigenous Heritage at the Chau Chak Wing Museum as he discusses his work over the past decade to strengthen relationships between peoples and their heritage.
Watch the digital launch of our new exhibition Pacific Views and enjoy performances and discussions with Benny Bettay, Oridek Ap, Black Sistaz and the Black Orchid Stringband.
Egyptologist Heba Abd el Gawad traces the journey of Egypt's dispersed heritage with the help of humour and comics.
Artist Sarah Goffman and writer Vanessa Berry share a love of incidental, discarded or 'trash' objects, and a passion for collecting. Watch as they discuss the objects that have inspired their creative practices.
Dr Fiona Radford and Dr Peta Greenfield present a live recording of their popular Roman history podcast, The Partial Historians.
Associate Professor Christopher Ballard explores the world's second-largest volcanic eruption of the last 2000 years.
Dr Chris Naunton shares the invaluable records created by some of the first Europeans to witness Egypt's ancient temples and tombs.
James Donaldson from the RD Milns Antiquities Museum, explores the life and archives of British classical archaeologist John Henry "Harry" Iliffe.
Linguist and anthropologist Dr Bentley James introduces an incredible project documenting over 500 hand signs used by the Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land.
A special film screening in association with the Museum's exhibition, Gululu dhuwala djalkiri: welcome to the Yolŋu foundations.
Museum Curator Jan Brazier introduces the Australian women working in commercial photography from the mid-19th to the early 20th century.
Join Associate Professor David Pritchard for a talk comparing the rewards bestowed on successful modern athletes with those of the ancient games.
Join artist Daniel Boyd and a multidisciplinary panel for a discussion exploring Boyd's installation Pediment/Impediment, the inaugural contemporary art project in the Penelope Gallery.
Explore a series of talks, lectures and panel discussions to celebrate National Archaeology Week 2021.
Turtles have played a vital role in human culture from the earliest times of civilisation. Dr Louise Pryke journeys through time with this remarkable and ancient creature for World Turtle Day.
Classicist Donna Storey considers whether Eurovision performances employing ancient world themes do so as an opportunity to push a political agenda.
The Chau Chak Wing Museum in association with the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens presents a celebration of Greek culture, games and conversation.
In this lecture, Dr Elisa DeCourcy and Dr Martyn Jolly in conversation with Donna West Brett, connect an image of photographer J. W. Newland taken in Sydney in 1848, to the intricate local, imperial and global visual economies in which it was embedded.
In this keynote lecture, Professor Gina Walker juxtaposes the stark reality of millennia of ignorance about early female figures and their authority as knowers.
Dr Rachel Pope provides a perspective from the UK and Europe on how preventing women's access to academia and the heritage sector, both historically, and in our workplace, today has impacted our understanding of women in the past.
Over three years Yolŋu elders and artists have worked with our curators to determine how their artwork, knowledge and Law is shown to visitors in an ambitious exhibition of over 300 works, Gululu dhuwala djalkiri: welcome to the Yolŋu foundations.
In celebration of our recent collaboration and close-to 100-year association, we have made a series of films documenting our exhibition process and a richly illustrated book.
Acclaimed Waanyi artist Judy Watson and Professor Jakelin Troy, Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research at the University of Sydney, discuss her major new work, Juguma, 2020.
Behind every exhibition is a story of its making. Join curators Dr Jude Philp and Candace Richards for an in-depth exploration of Animal Gods: Classics and Classification.
2020
Dr Jilda Andrews, a Yuwaalaraay woman, cultural practitioner and researcher looks at how ontological collisions can reveal a different kind of 'culture work' for museum practitioners today.
Kiong Lee and Graeme Dix from Johnson Pilton Walker (JPW) discuss the process of designing the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
As part of our opening celebrations, enjoy a sneak preview of the Chau Chak Wing Museum hosted by Fenella Kernebone.
Vanessa Finney unravels the complex network of 19th-century colonial science and the formation of Australia's first museum.
Roman archaeologist Dr Steven Ellis from the University of Cincinnati discusses the challenges and results of excavating ancient cities of Pompeii and Tharros.
Dr Craig Barker, Candace Richards and Dr James Fraser from the Nicholson Collection celebrate the history of the previous Nicholson Museum and its collections.
2019
Robert Veel from Academy Travel presents a survey of these two Mediterranean islands from the Dark Ages to the dawn of the modern era.
Although three Egyptian mummies have been part of the Nicholson Collection since 1860, modern scientific techniques enable us to examine these ancient individuals with new eyes.
Māori-Australian historians Jo Maarama Kamira and Brent Kerehona share their knowledge and insights into some of the key characters and fascinating episodes of early Māori in Sydney.
2018
Dr Alexandra Fletcher from the British Museum discusses new research and discoveries that have been made about the Jericho skull.
Assistant Curator Candace Richards discusses the photographic archive of former Nicholson Museum Curator William J Woodhouse.
Featured image (top of the page): UMAC 2023. Photo by David James.