Exhibitions
Events
On display
China, China - Bust 28 and 39 by Ah Xian
[Left] Ah Xian China, China – Bust 28 1999. Porcelain body-cast, hand painted in overglaze enamels. Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, purchased 2000
[Right] Ah Xian China, China – Bust 39 1999. Porcelain body-cast with yingqing glaze. Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Gene and Brian Sherman, 2008
Art Bite
Meet in the exhibition
For the first Art Bite of the New Year, join lead curator Felicity Milburn as she discusses Ah Xian's China, China - Bust 28 and 39 on display in Dummies and Dopplegängers on the ground floor.
Art Bites are 30-minute lunchtime presentations on a single work on display, presented by our staff, guides and guest speakers.
There's a new Art Bite to enjoy each Friday at 12 noon (except during public and school holidays).
Related reading: Free event
Exhibition
Dummies & Doppelgängers
2 November 2024 – 23 March 2025
The unforgettable art of being someone else.
Commentary
Turn Around and I’m Gone Again
The public lives of artworks can be occasional and itinerant—they emerge from the cosy sameness of storage into fresh locations and contexts. Many make their first public appearances alongside siblings from their maker’s studio, but later find themselves in very different company. While some resolutely maintain their identity no matter how or where they are shown, others open up to additional associations and meanings. Fittingly for a show about the power of alternative identities, several of the works in Dummies & Doppelgängers have evolved over time, shapeshifting into new lives or likenesses.
