Arts and culture have been part of the University of Tasmania since its founding in 1890, and now the institution is celebrating two significant milestones: a new exhibition of recent acquisitions and the launch of its cultural collections online.
Currently showing at the Plimsoll Gallery, True Stories? Recent Acquisitions is the first exhibition in many years to focus on newly acquired works and objects from the University's Cultural Collection. Featuring a curated selection from the University's art, historical, and antiquities collections, the exhibition explores how collections shape our understanding of memory, knowledge, truth, value, and belonging.
The exhibition invites visitors to consider how history is remembered, how value is assigned to objects, and whose stories are preserved and authorised over time. Embracing contradiction and complexity, it asks audiences to reflect on the role collections play in shaping cultural narratives.
Featured artists include Sue Anderson, Raymond Arnold, Hla Htun Aung, Brigita Ozolins, Christl Berg, Karla Dickens, Julie Gough, and Joan Ross. Several artists represented in both the exhibition and the collection have strong connections to the University. Former teaching staff Raymond Arnold, Brigita Ozolins, Christl Berg, and Julie Gough are all represented, while Ozolins, Berg, and Gough are also University of Tasmania alumni.
Jen Franklin, Head of Cultural Collections and Heritage, said the exhibition marked an important moment for the University's collections team.
Photo credit: Al Bett
"It has been many years since we have had an exhibition featuring recent acquisitions into the University's Cultural Collection, and for us to do so immediately after we have concluded a change process is testament to the wonderful collaborative nature of our team," Franklin said.
"We hope that visitors will consider, and maybe share, their responses to questions around truth in collections as they engage with these objects that are individually compelling in their own way and with their own stories."
The exhibition coincides with the launch of the University's Cultural Collection online, providing unprecedented public access to more than 100,000 objects across more than 20 collections, including fine art, rare books, antiquities, Aboriginal cultural material, historical objects, and documents.
Jen Franklin described the online launch as the result of years of work across multiple teams.
Launching the collection online is a significant milestone many years in the making," she said. "In order to publish the collection online, we implemented a museum-standard collection management system that brought together all our collection data into the one place for the first time.
Photo Credit: Madeline Davies
L-R, Katrina Ross (Manager, Curatorial & Collections), Jane Barlow (Exhibitions & Learning Programs Producer), Amanda Castray (Pro Vice-Chancellor, Campus Life), Caine Chennatt (University Librarian and Curatorial Director), Jen Franklin (Head, Cultural Collections & Heritage) and Josh Prouse (Cultural Collections Officer, Art & Campus Display)
More than 15,000 collection items are currently searchable online, with further records and information to be added over time.
Josh Prouse, Cultural Collections Officer (Art and Campus Display), said the exhibition also reflects the University's strong alumni connections.
"The exhibition included several UTAS alumni among the artists: Julie Gough, Christl Berg and Brigita Ozolins," he said. "The curatorial team also included UTAS alumni Katrina Ross, Neil Apted and myself."
Josh said that after the exhibition closes, artworks and historical objects will return to their respective collections, with some works returning to campus display locations. He added that Cultural Collections is reviewing campus display protocols to allow a broader range of collection items to be seen by staff, students, and the public, while historical and antiquities objects will continue to support object-based learning.
True Stories? Recent Acquisitions is on display at The Plimsoll Gallery, 37 Hunter Street, Hobart, until 10 October 2026. Entry is free and the gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm.
The University of Tasmania's Cultural Collection can be explored online.
Banner photo credit: Al Bett