The National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) latest exhibition, Mother, opens with striking contrasts that capture the complexities of motherhood. At the entrance to the Ian Potter Centre space, visitors encounter a 15th-century oil painting of the Madonna and Child by Giovanni Toscani alongside a 1998 conical birth mat created by East Arnhem Land artist Elizabeth Birritjama Ngalandjarri.
Curators Highlight Unique Pairings
Co-curator Sophie Gerhard, a mother herself, describes the pairing as a rare chance to juxtapose works never before displayed together. “It’s such an amazing opportunity to bring things together that have never been shown in the same context before,” she says. “We see the Virgin Mary in her white, beautiful purity. But then we ask what impact did that have on women’s bodies and birthing practices when Christianity came to Australia? They are lovely works, but also bigger conversations.”
Journey Through Motherhood’s Life Cycle
Drawn primarily from the NGV’s collection, similar to past exhibitions on queer themes in 2022 and pets in 2025, Mother follows the full arc of motherhood. It explores matrescence—the shift into motherhood—through caregiving, creativity, and ultimately loss and grief.
Emphasis on First Nations Perspectives
The exhibition offers a strong Australian focus, particularly on First Nations mothering across generations. Co-curator Katharina Prugger, who was pregnant while developing the show, notes the gap in international motherhood exhibitions. “There’s been a few exhibitions on motherhood launched overseas and we were thinking about that in an NGV context and what we could add. We saw a real opportunity, especially in the light of these other shows overseas which did not have any kind of First Nation stories included,” she says.
Featured Works and Artists
Recent additions include Melbourne artist Kate Just’s knitted chain mail armour, An Armour of Hope (2012), made for her adopted child Harper. Just explains its origins: “The work An Armour of Hope strangely began the day I met Harper and shook his hand as a two-year-old joining our family for the first time. In that moment, I felt and saw an image of Harper in soft armour in my mind’s eye. I think I recognised the difficulty Harper had already been through, but also noted a keen receptivity to new connections and bonds.”
Fibre arts weave through the display, reflecting ties between craft and care. Quandamooka artist Kyra Mancktelow’s One Continuous String (2021) recreates a cotton dress pattern her grandmother wore at Moongalba mission using traditional weaving. Other key First Nations pieces include Destiny Deacon’s playful 1987 Home Video, which challenges stereotypes, and Hannah Brontë’s Eye Hear U Magik, honoring spiritual knowledge passed down generations.
Diverse Experiences of Mothering
The show spans varied motherhood narratives, from Davida Allen’s humorous 1989 lithograph Baby to John Lorimer’s 17th-century painting of a colonial maid of colour caring for a white child. Themes of birth, nursing, labor, longing, and joy emerge vividly. Photography and video capture domestic realities, while artifacts like a 1850 Staffordshire earthenware feeding bottle, vintage prams, toys, and clothing ground the experience historically.
Resonance and Reflections
Though no exhibition captures every aspect—modern practices like IVF appear limited—the show resonates deeply. Gerhard shares, “It’s been amazing to develop something where the work is really so relevant to people’s lives. Usually work in contemporary art, you’re looking at something with political significance or things like that. But this has just been such a different experience in terms of the feedback we were already getting and excitement around it, even, just people from our lives.” Prugger adds, “This show seems to make people want to share. Every person that we’ve walked through says ‘oh, this reminds me of my family’.”
Beyond personal stories, Mother probes maternal imagery’s societal roles, questioning how art portrays caregivers as complex humans amid immense responsibilities. The exhibition runs at the NGV until July 12.
