Curators’ ‘Relentless’ Motherhood Shapes NGV’s Free MOTHER Show

Sophie Gerhard and Katharina Prugger were in the thick of early mothering when they started work on the NGV’s new exhibition. They searched for one word to sum it up and landed on ‘relentless’. That single word now underpins MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection, a free show of more than 200 works at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Fed Square.

The exhibition opened on 27 March and runs until 12 July 2026. It draws on the NGV’s permanent collection to explore motherhood across cultures, time periods and art forms, from historical paintings to contemporary video and First Nations weaving. The show is arranged around themes of creating, giving and leaving, and includes dedicated spaces that address miscarriage and infant loss.

‘We’re trying to tell so many different perspectives and experiences, and representations of motherhood,’ Gerhard, curator of Australian and First Nations Art, told Art Almanac. ‘I hope that people see themselves in this show; everybody has a relationship with the story of motherhood in some way.’

First Nations works sit alongside Western religious iconography and royal sketches, a curatorial choice that pulls the universal experience of mothering into sharp focus. Kyra Mancktelow’s One Continuous String (2021) recreates her mother’s mission dress as a suspended, woven sculpture. ‘It’s this beautiful, suspended, woven dress, which is modelled on her granny’s mission dress, and she speaks to the Indigenous ways of life, culture, and practice being suppressed,’ Prugger told Art Almanac. Elizabeth Djutarra’s woven birthing skirts sit near depictions of the Virgin Mary and Queen Victoria sketches, contrasting different traditions of maternal imagery in a single room.

The Guardian review praised the show’s refusal to soften the edges of motherhood. Works by Davida Allen, Kate Just and Patricia Piccinini tackle labour, the erasure of mothers, loss, joy and humour without flinching. Art Almanac described the exhibition as ‘raw, honest, and at times, terrifying’ and ‘moving, witty and so human’. The curators’ own experience of relentless early mothering, with Prugger pregnant with her second child during development, directly shaped the selection and the new acquisitions that sit alongside historical works.

Entry is free, something visitors can miss if they assume a show of this scale requires a ticket. A free Family Activity Trail and a digital publication with ten curatorial essays are also available, making the exhibition accessible for children and art history readers alike. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm, and the Activity Trail turns the gallery into something families can do together without a booking.

The closing date of 12 July gives Melbourne a few more weeks to see what is being called the most comprehensive thematic exhibition on motherhood ever mounted in an Australian art institution. Unlike typical collection shows, this one puts the curators’ lived experience at the centre rather than in a footnote.

Trams on routes 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67 and 72 stop at Federation Square, and Flinders Street Station is a two-minute walk away. Driving into the city is less straightforward, with limited parking making public transport the better option. After the trail, the NGV Cafe sits just outside the entrance on the Atrium level, and ACMI is a few metres across the square for anyone wanting to double up on screen culture. The laneway cafes and bars of the CBD are a short walk away.