A survey exhibition of the history of photography in the Asia–Pacific region.

Asia–Pacific photography 1840s–1940s
11 July – 9 November 2008

The Gallery’s new Asia and Pacific collection will be showcased for the first time from 11 July to 9 November 2008 with The first century of Asia–Pacific photography. This exhibition will be the first survey of the history of photography from India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific to the west coast of North America, from the formative decades of the 1840s to 1860s to the early 1940s and advent of the Second World War.

Picture Paradise: the first century of Asia–Pacific photography 1840s–1940s is the National Gallery of Australia’s contribution to Vivid, the National Photography Festival on view in venues around Canberra from 11 July to 12 October 2008. With over 36 exhibitions hosted across 28 participating institutions in Canberra, ranging from national collecting institutions to many smaller community organisations and galleries, Vivid will highlight the city’s rich photographic collections through exhibitions and a wide range of events.

PHOTO: An 1847 daguerreotype of a south-east Australian Aboriginal and two younger companions. (NGA: Douglas T. Kilburn )