Exhibitions

Explore our exhibitions and keep up to date with events. Exhibitions are held at the Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne Burwood Campus and are free and open to the public.

Our exhibition program

Browse exhibitions at the Deakin University Art Gallery, where contemporary art and creative practice are presented through a changing program across the year. See what’s currently showing and what’s next.

Download the 2026 exhibitions program (PDF, 1.7MB)

Current exhibition

Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award

24 August – 9 October

Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne Burwood Campus

In its seventeenth year, this annual acquisitive award and exhibition is organised by the Art Collection and Galleries Unit at Deakin University.One outstanding work will be awarded $15,000, supported by Michael and Emily Tong, and become part of the Deakin University Art Collection. The winner will be announced at the opening of a seven-week exhibition of finalists' works. Entries are open from April to June each year.

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Photograph of a section of the Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award 2025 installation. In the foreground is a glasswork featuring a young face looking out at the viewer, behind is an artwork construction from metal and wood depicting an abstract forrest, in the far background are an array of other sculptures.
^{Image: Installation image of the 2025 Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award. Artworks right to left; Ann Ferguson, Connecting Threads; Miranda Burgess, Fractured Earth; Euan Heng, Untitled; Brigit Heller, Underfoot; Brenda Page, The Bell Tolls; Michael Doolan, These Stories Know You (Him). Image © courtesy of the artists. Photo by Fiona Hamilton.}

Upcoming exhibitions

Stay up to date with our upcoming exhibitions and experience the latest projects at the Deakin University Art Gallery. Each exhibition brings new perspectives, highlighting the energy and diversity of contemporary art today.

Obiectivus

22 October – 11 December

This exhibition explores the richness of the imagination as an accomplice to knowledge. Invited by the Centre for Abstract+Non-Objective Art, 11 contemporary artists share objects that have relevance and relationship to their practice and development alongside their work.

The human imagination drives the material practice of art through medium and form, which will no doubt eventually manifest itself in the digital realm. This very complex synthesis re-informs and extends human inventiveness, but at the core of this reinvention is the object, presented in contrast with the subjective, in celebration of physicality.

The fourth exhibition of the Deakin University Centre for Abstract+Non-Objective Art, The Void: Visible being the inaugural in November 2017. Curated by Stephen Wickham and Kira Godoroja-Prieckaerts.

Abstract artwork featuring two blocks of highly saturated colour, with a dark blue to the majority of the left of the surface and yellow to the right of the surface, creating a horizontal stripe of yellow. The top and the bottom of the yellow stripe appears tapered inwards.

^{Image: Suzie Idiens, Untitled #26 2026, laminate on black MDF, 50 x 50 x 10cm. Image © courtesy the artist. Photo by Fiona Susanto.}

Past exhibitions

Browse our past exhibitions to explore the art, artists and ideas that have shaped the Deakin University Art Gallery over time. Spanning a variety of disciplines and curatorial approaches, including immersive virtual tours, this archive captures the depth and diversity of our exhibition program.

Explore past exhibitions

VIRTUAL GALLERY

NOW SHOWING: A selection of works from Deakin's Art Collection by First Nations Women from Southeastern Australia

In recognition of Reconciliation Week 2026, and to celebrate the wonderful works in the Deakin University Art Collection by First Nations artists, our online exhibition space is showcasing a stunning selection of contemporary artworks by First Nations women from Southeastern Australia.

The exhibition showcases 34 works by 13 artists whose Southern Australian language groups include Palawa, Taungurung, Bangerang, Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta, Boon Wurrung, Wadawurrung, Gunditjmara, Wotjobaluk, Djab Wurrung and Jadawadjali.

Featuring artists including Maree Clarke, Hayley Millar Baker, Vicki Couzens, Marlene Gilson and Lisa Waup, the exhibition celebrates and highlights the strength, resilience and cultural knowledge embedded within contemporary First Nations art practice.

Each work is accompanied by extended labels offering rich insights into the artists and their practice. Whether you drop by virtually for five minutes or stay for an hour, we hope you enjoy your visit.

Explore the virtual gallery

Finding the gallery

The Deakin University Art Gallery is in Building FA, open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, during scheduled exhibition dates (closed public holidays). Free admission.

To find the gallery, enter Deakin University via Entrance 1 (Holland Avenue), off Burwood Highway. Continue straight for 500 metres. As you pass the overhead footbridge, the gallery is on your right. If arriving by car, you can park in any of the bays on the left of Holland Avenue. Alternatively, follow Holland Avenue all the way around to the second parking entrance.

Find out more about how to get to Deakin

Footnotes

^{Banner Image: Brigit Heller, Poles Apart 2003 (detail), blue band painted pipe and steel wire, Purchase 2004, Deakin University Art Collection. Image © and courtesy of the artist.}

Contact us

Contact us with any enquiries. Or register to our mailing list and follow the Deakin University Art Gallery on social media to stay up to date with the latest news.

+61 3 9244 5344

Building FA, Melbourne Burwood Campus
221 Burwood Highway
Burwood, Melbourne

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Facebook @ArtDeakin
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Exterior of the Deakin University Art Gallery.

Past Exhibitions

Art Collection

View of an exhibition room containing all the small sculptures from the 2024 awards

Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award

A photograph of the Deakin Art Gallery building from the outside, showing a sign with the building name on it.

School Programs