Through installation, photography and archival research, After Spectacle: Photography, Authority and the Archive by Kirsten Garner Lyttle examines how nineteenth-century visual technologies, museum practices and exhibition culture shaped colonial ways of seeing, believing and knowing.
Reassociate explores how pop culture disconnects violent histories from their original contexts, eroding our collective memory of nuclear warfare and colonial violence. Through hariko dolls, animation, and archival research, Japanese artist and illustrator Yasuko Toda reconnects past and present to question how cultural dissociation enables cycles of violence to continue.
The Papua New Guinea Sublime reimagines landscape as a space of memory, identity and cultural connection. Through expansive paintings shaped by Papua New Guinea’s environments and histories, Lesley Wengembo explores the meeting point between place, belonging and the sublime.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
An archive of all the major exhibitions featured at Blak Dot, from the opening of the gallery to the present day
2026
///\\\///\\\ EXHIBITION EXTENDED! Now showing until Sunday 5 July ///\\\///\\\
We Built a House Out of Water is a new body of work by Peta Duncan. Through lens-based image-making, layered material experimentation, she creates an expressive intimate space that mirrors an internal landscape. Shaped by culture, family and memory, through the ongoing process of healing.
We Should be Seen, We Should be Heard pays homage to the extraordinary life and work of leading Gomeroi/Gamilaraay Murri First Nations photojournalist and photographer Aunty Barbara McGrady (Aunty Barb).
Xenobotany, a solo exhibition by Lena Becerra, invites visitors into a speculative ecosystem of hybrid organisms - where glass vessels, prosthetic anatomies, and circulating fluids form a living archive in constant mutation, blurring the boundaries between biology, technology, and memory.
2025
We are excited to close out the year with Ganbuy Nanja: Rewoven Stories – an exceptional exhibition from Numbulwar Numburindi Arts that reimagines ancestral weaving practices through contemporary materials and environmental storytelling.
8 Mystery 8 invites the viewer to reconnect with the vital essence of nature and to reflect on its deep connection with human life.
2024
These Arms Hold- Incinerator Gallery
Curated by: Maya Hodge, Artist(s): Gabi Briggs, Indiana Hunt, Moorina Bonini, and Tarryn Love.
International Festival of Photography PHOTO 2024, Counihan Gallery. Curated by Kimba Thompson,
the exhibition features work by Julie Gough, Maree Clarke, Peta Clancy and Jody Haines.
2023
2022
Resonate will join forces with Blak Dot Gallery and Siteworks in Brunswick to deliver SAXON STREET CLOSING PARTY
Yo Soy Collective presents:
Ancestral Magik is an exhibition showcasing contemporary narratives from the Latin American continent.
2021
We acknowledge that Blak Dot would not be what it is today without its many volunteers and arts community.
UN-SPORTS-MAN-LIKE both questions and celebrates masculinity, the body and sport culture and iconography.
2020
In partnership with Deadly Fringe Blak Dot is proud to support ‘Healing Through Buliana’. By: Maddy Connors
Omens, portents and messages from the other side. Stories of dreams, ancestral spirit visitors and the messages we receive daily as we walk through life.
The project focuses on sharing passion and knowledge based on a common interest within differing cultural landscapes.
2019
Blak Dot Gallery is pleased to announce its inaugural end of year summer show, ‘Circular’.
Tautai x Blak Dot showcases cutting edge works by nine Oceanic artists, four that currently practice in Aotearoa New Zealand and five Oceanic artists based in Australia.
A collection of works showcasing the environmental effects on native land by human development and how it effects Native peoples connect to country.
2018
A joint exhibition with artists Peter Waples-Crowe and Megan Evans
OPENING THURSDAY 16TH AUGUST 6PM - 8PM
A solo exhibition by Lisa Hilli; Trade beads or slave beads, were used globally by European colonists as a mechanism for the exploitation of labour and goods, they were also used by missionaries for building rapport with indigenous people of the land…
Will veracity or idealism reign supreme when we take responsibility for the effects of both on our country and our wellbeing?
2017
Blak Dot proudly presents our final exhibition for 2017, ‘AA’ – a celebration of the work of artists Annie Moors (Yolngu) and Amani Tia (Samoan).
Borders, Walls and Belonging is an exhibition by Melbourne-based artist Kaytsen (Kate) Jama and Istanbul-based artist Murat Germen.
‘Aeasi (as far as the eye can see above the sea)’ is a retrospective exhibition of works by Australian Solomon Islander (Feralimae/ Kosi) filmmaker Amie Batalibasi and a glimpse at new works in development.
2016
Under our Community Engagement Program Blak Dot is proud to host ‘Our Deadly Spirit’ this three week exhibition celebrates the work of four young people exploring their cultural knowledge and identity through various art mediums.
If tino rangatiratanga is the concept of sovereignty, what does agency over one’s image look like within a digital era?
Blak Dot Gallery presents ‘Fifty Shades of Blak’ part of this years 2016 Melbourne Fringe Festival, an exhibition exploring the voices of First Nations women from across Australia and the world.
2015
Blak Dot Gallery in collaboration with The Counihan Gallery In Brunswick is proud to present Both Sides of the Street, an exhibition that brings together artists from different disciplines and with different perspectives on what it means to live in contemporary Australian society, what it means to live on both sides of the street.
2014
This exciting collaboration with our artist in residence Matt ‘Adnate’ (a member of the International Street Art collective ‘Awol Crew’) and six young emerging artists from Northern Melbourne’s urban Indigenous communities and six young artists from migrant & refugee backgrounds to produce works for this exhibition..
Brook Andrew | Joel Birnie | Maree Clarke | Peter Waples-Crowe | Robyne Latham | Anna Liebzeit | Tobias Reef
Curated by: Kimba Thompson
2 May – 8 June at The Substation
OPENING: 27th March 2014 – 6.30pm-8.30pm
ARTISTS: Shona Te Hau • Kui Taukilo • Vicki Kinai • Kirsten Lyttle
Curated by Grace Vanilau & Jacob Tolo
2013
Burji arts presents NOT “made in Somalia” an exhibition by Nadia Faragaab; Cultures that embrace change are more successful at developing and contributing new ideas and innovation. ‘NOT Made In Somalia’ looks at everyday objects in Somali culture. How they could benefit from a ‘revamp’ to suit our modern day lifestyles and therefore continue to be relevant represantations of Somali culture
At the beginning of last year Melbourne artist Emma Morgan moved to the Northern Territory to work for Papunya Tula Artists, an Aboriginal art company. For seven months she helped operate the company’s two art studios in Kintore, NT and Kiwirrkurra, WA – remote communities situated in the Western Desert between Alice Springs and Port Hedland. Inland Ocean is a series of paintings, drawings and prints started in this time…
‘Kwality Chai ‘is the latest cafe chain that emerges following India’s clandestine takeover of Australia. Set in an alternate reality, the cross-cultural mannerisms, pursuits and vocabulary has had radical implications for Australian identity and cultural consciousness…
2012
Nadia Faragaab’s exhibition: ‘The G with the J Sound’ revolves around a discussion of identity; its suppression, fluidity and idiosyncrasies. Faragaab’s aim is to assert a strong sense of self amongst her fellows in the Somali community, while also giving Somali identity and concerns a voice within mainstream Australian culture.
‘Belonging Exhibition’ is a collaborative exhibition of works created by the children from the Out of School Hours Care and Art Programs at Brunswick East Primary School…
OPENING NIGHT: Thursday 8 Nov | 6.30pm-8.30pm
Artists for Human Rights and Action presents:
The Visualising Human Rights Arts Showcase 2012
The Visualising Human Rights Arts Competition harnesses artistic expression and strategic partnerships to raise awareness, promote discussion and inspire action around some of the most challenging human rights issues of our times.
2011
A collaborative exhibition by DANIEL KING and JONATHAN STOCK
SWEPT UNDER THE CARPET focuses on the men of power in Australian politics since federation and the consequential social impact of the politics of the day.
An Exhibition by Nadia Faragaab
November 3rd – 20th | 2011
With ‘Kronologies’ Nadia Faragaab reignites the debate and discussion surrounding the profound absence of Somali representation within the expanse of Australian culture.
Blood Generation is a collaborative exhibition between contemporary photographer Stuart Miller and artist Taloi Havini…