On Sunday 26 July, the final day of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ ‘And Still I Rise’ exhibition, a free tour delivered entirely in Auslan will give D/deaf and hard of hearing visitors direct access to works by 20 culturally diverse Australian women artists.
The one-hour tour starts at 1.30pm in the Naala Nura building. It is led by artists and guides from the D/deaf community. No bookings are required. Entry is free.
The exhibition, named after Maya Angelou’s poetry collection, spans textiles, painting, metalwork, installation and video. Artists include Kim Ah Sam, Mia Khin Boe, Mechelle Bounpraseuth, Chun Yin Rainbow Chan, Haji Oh, Kyra Mancktelow, Eugenia Lim and Suzann Victor. Lim’s 2015 work New Australians (welcome stranger 1869/2015) and Victor’s kinetic installation Sea Lantern II — a wall of thousands of Fresnel lenses — are among the pieces visitors will discuss.
Visual interpretation and shared discussion are central. The tour tackles themes of identity, history, memory, culture and belonging without an English-first framing. Instead, Auslan is the primary language. English interpretation runs concurrently.
Gallery staff confirmed the tour is part of a regular Auslan program that draws its guides from the D/deaf community. Each session is designed to make the gallery’s collection and temporary exhibitions accessible through community-led dialogue, not translated lectures.
The meeting point is the welcome desk on the ground level of Naala Nura. Arrive early. The gallery opens at 10am on Sundays and closes at 5pm. St James is the closest train station and multiple bus routes serve Art Gallery Road and The Domain. On-site parking is limited, so public transport is the better option.
If you are combining the tour with other gallery events, talks are scheduled at 11am and 2pm on the same day. The Royal Botanic Garden sits beside the gallery and makes for a quiet walk before or after.
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Art Gallery of New South Wales
Major public art museum in Sydney housing Australian, European, Asian and contemporary collections. It offers free entry to the permanent collection and runs accessibility programs including Auslan tours.
The ‘And Still I Rise’ exhibition closes on Sunday evening. After that, the gallery’s Auslan program continues. Future tour dates will be published on the gallery’s website.