La Trobe Art Institute

La Trobe Art Institute La Trobe University's centre for contemporary art in Bendigo’s arts precinct. Admission is always free. La Trobe Art Institute was established in 2013.

We produce exhibitions, lectures, forums, residencies and cultural events and offer social spaces that serve our wider community. Our Peter Elliott-designed premises in the Bendigo CBD include two galleries, a tiered auditorium, apartment, studio, common room, meeting room and outdoor courtyards. Our program includes exhibitions, film series, residencies, lectures and forums, professional developm

ent, cultural exchange and social events that support community advocacy and debate. Our work continues the dynamic legacy of the La Trobe University’s commitment to visual arts including through teaching and research, collections (established in 1966) and dedicated art galleries (since 1982).

As part of our latest exhibition, Actions for Water II, visitors can explore a nomadic library installation presented ac...
01/09/2026

As part of our latest exhibition, Actions for Water II, visitors can explore a nomadic library installation presented across two public sites: La Trobe Art Institute and Bendigo Library.

The Bureau of Water (2026) brings together books from Bendigo Library, La Trobe University Library, the La Trobe Art Institute library, and the personal collections of the curators, this unique reading resource invites deeper reflection on our relationships with water. The interdisciplinary collection explores themes of environmental stewardship, water governance, ecological futures, and the many ways water shapes our lives and communities.

Artists:
Imani Jacqueline Brown (USA), underFOOT Collective (AU), Tomoko Hayashi ( JPN), Eugenia Lim with Maddi Mansfield and Bec Phillips (AU), Mei Swan Lim (AU), Daniel Jan Martin (AU), Zarina Muhammad (SG), Glenda Nicholls (AU), Khvay Samnang (KH),
Sao Sreymao (KH), Urbonas Studio (USA-MIT/LITH)
Curators:
Amelia Wallin and Sharmila Wood

Exhibition runs until 8 November 2026

Photo: Leon Schoots

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening of Actions for Water II!Special thanks to Uncle Jason for the warm W...
28/08/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening of Actions for Water II!
Special thanks to Uncle Jason for the warm Welcome to Country and to artist Sreymao Mao for her performance.

Actions for Water || brings together interdisciplinary practitioners from diverse geographies to explore water as both a vital ecology and a site of speculative possibilities. In response to escalating privatisation, pollution and degradation, artists reclaim water as a shared commons that is imbued with cultural memory, collective histories and communal stewardship. The artworks reflect sustained engagement with water’s many forms and meanings, tracing connections across geographies and knowledge systems.

Imani Jacqueline Brown (USA), underFOOT Collective (AU), Tomoko Hayashi ( JPN),
Eugenia Lim with Maddi Mansfield and Bec Phillips (AU), Mei Swan Lim (AU), Daniel
Jan Martin (AU), Zarina Muhammad (SG), Glenda Nicholls (AU), Khvay Samnang (KH),
Sao Sreymao (KH), Urbonas Studio (USA-MIT/LITH)

Curated by Amelia Wallin and Sharmila Wood

Exhibition runs until 8 November 2026

Photos: AJ Taylor

Tomorrow night — join us for the opening of Actions for Water II 🌊Celebrate the exhibition with a special performance an...
20/08/2026

Tomorrow night — join us for the opening of Actions for Water II 🌊

Celebrate the exhibition with a special performance and activation by Cambodian artist Sao Sreymao, exploring the impacts of climate change, depleting fish stocks and dam construction on communities along Tonle Sap Lake and the Mekong River.

📅 Friday 21 August, 5–7 pm

Curated by La Trobe Art Institute Senior Curator Amelia Wallin and guest curator Sharmila Wood, Actions for Water II considers water as both a vital ecology and a site of speculative possibility.

Situated on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, the exhibition and its public programs reclaim water as a shared commons, while recognising its ongoing significance as a living entity — carrying cultural memory, collective histories and responsibilities of care.

Actions for Water II
20 August – 8 November 2026

Featuring Daniel Jan Martin (AU), Tomoko Hayashi (JPN), Eugenia Lim with Maddi Mansfield (AU), Mei Swan Lim (AU), Zarina Muhammad (SG), Glenda Nicholls (AU), Khvay Samnang (KH), Sao Sreymao (KH), Urbonas Studio (USA-MIT/LITH) and underFOOT Collective (AU).

Founding Partner: Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney.

Join us this Friday evening for the exhibition opening celebration for our next exhibition 'Actions for Water II'. The e...
17/08/2026

Join us this Friday evening for the exhibition opening celebration for our next exhibition 'Actions for Water II'. The evening will feature a performance and activation by Cambodian artist Sao Sreymao, exploring the effects of climate change, depleting fish stocks and dam construction on communities along Tonle Sap Lake and the Mekong River.

🕔 Friday 21 August 5 to 7 pm

Curated by La Trobe Art Institute's senior curator, Amelia Wallin, and guest curator Sharmila Wood, Actions for Water II explores water as both a vital ecology and a site of speculative possibility. Situated on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, the exhibition and its public programs reclaim water as a shared commons, while recognising its ongoing significance as a living entity — carrying cultural memory, collective histories and responsibilities of care.

Exhibition runs 20 August – 8 November 2026

Daniel Jan Martin (AU), Tomoko Hayashi (JPN), Eugenia Lim with Maddi Mansfield (AU), Mei Swan Lim (AU), Zarina Muhammad (SG), Glenda Nicholls (AU), Khvay Samnang (KH), Sao Sreymao (KH), Urbonas Studio (USA-MIT/LITH), underFOOT Collective (AU)

Founding Partner: Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney.

We are delighted to announce that Lara Chamas is the winner of the 2026 Australian Muslim Artists (AMA) Art Prize, proud...
14/08/2026

We are delighted to announce that Lara Chamas is the winner of the 2026 Australian Muslim Artists (AMA) Art Prize, proudly supported by La Trobe University.

'Dawa Ahmar' by Lara Chamas is a powerful and deeply affecting installation that brings history and the present into dialogue. Weaving together the visual language of ancient mosaics with familial objects such as her grandmother’s prayer mat, Chamas constructs a layered and nuanced portrait of her ancestral home of Lebanon. Materially inventive and poetically realised, the work confronts the devastation of war with clarity and sensitivity, illuminating its enduring impact on both civic infrastructure and everyday lives. Using everyday materials and referencing the antiseptic Betadine, 'Dawa Ahmar' evokes capacities for healing and repair in the face of violence, offering a poignant meditation on resilience, memory and renewal.

Congratulations 💫
You can see Lara's fantastic work, alongside all other finalists, on exhibition at

Image: Lara Chamas, 'Dawa Ahmar' 2025. Courtesy of the artist

Actions for Water II explores water as both a vital ecology and a site of speculative possibility. Working across discip...
13/08/2026

Actions for Water II explores water as both a vital ecology and a site of speculative possibility. Working across disciplines and geographies, ten artists and practitioners present works developed in collaboration with place and community through practices of deep listening, fieldwork, and embodied research.

Actions for Water II
20 August to 8 November 2026
Artists: underFOOT Collective (AU), Tomoko Hayashi (JPN), Eugenia Lim with Maddi Mansfield and Bec Phillips (AU), Mei Swan Lim (AU), Daniel Jan Martin (AU), Zarina Muhammad (SG), Glenda Nicholls (AU), Khvay Samnang (KH), Sao Sreymao (KH), Urbonas Studio (USA-MIT/LITH)

Design by Zenobia Ahmed

This week is your last chance to catch our fantastic exhibition 'My Blood Sings Old Songs' guest curated by Maya Hodge. ...
06/08/2026

This week is your last chance to catch our fantastic exhibition 'My Blood Sings Old Songs' guest curated by Maya Hodge. Featuring work by Atong Atem, Sonja Hodge, Jenna Lee, Tracey Moffatt, Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis, Leyla Stevens, and wani toaishara, this exhibition gathers artists who capture what is not always said—but deeply felt. The works in this exhibition resonate over time, unravelling layers of the body and the quiet weight of being seen, where movement becomes a vessel for remembrance.

My Blood Sings Old Songs closes 9 August.

Images: installation views of My Blood Sings Old Songs at La Trobe Art Institute, 2026. Photos: Leon Schoots

Exhibition identity design by Jenna Lee

Tracey Moffatt courtesy Murray Art Museum Albury Collection

.mlee

Introducing Jenna Rain Warwick, who will be presenting a performative screening of The Enemy Within (1918) as part of St...
05/08/2026

Introducing Jenna Rain Warwick, who will be presenting a performative screening of The Enemy Within (1918) as part of Storied Places, the closing event for My Blood Sings Old Songs this Saturday 8 August.

Jenna Rain Warwick is a Proud Luritja yeye, who grew up in southeast Queensland and now lives and works on Wurundjeri Country. Her research encompasses Australian film history as it relates to "Australianness", extractive industries, particularly the financial entanglement of oil, gas, coal and automotive multinationals. Positioning Indigenous sovereignty at the centre of all Australians made productions. Jenna’s research is often driven by gut and instinct, using place and relationality as material navigation and inspiration. Ruminating on the prompt that if all Indigenous nations and their people are one and the same, then mob have starred in every movie shot in so-called Australia, this is what she hopes to remind broader society of with her own video and archival practice. Jenna was previously the First nations curator of ACMI, her work has screened internationally including Maoriland Film Festival.

We celebrate this fantastic exhibition with a closing event on 8 August from 12 to 4. The event is catered, please RSVP via the link below.

My Blood Sings Old Songs is guest curated by Maya Hodge and features Atong Atem, Sonja Hodge, Jenna Lee, Tracey Moffatt, Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis, Leyla Stevens, and wani toaishara

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/storied-places-tickets-1993576796865?aff=oddtdtcreator

Introducing Leyla Stevens, who will be presenting a keynote presentation on her practice as part of the closing event fo...
04/08/2026

Introducing Leyla Stevens, who will be presenting a keynote presentation on her practice as part of the closing event for My Blood Sings Old Songs this Saturday 8 August.

Leyla Stevens is an Australian-Balinese artist who works predominantly within an expanded documentary and lens-based practice. Her work is informed by ongoing engagements with storied places, archives, cultural geographies and performance lineages through a transcultural lens. As research led artist, she is guided by collaborative engagements with place and communities, and her interest lies in the recuperation of counter histories within dominant narratives.

Recent commissions include 'PAHIT MANIS, Night Forest' (2024) co-commissioned by Artspace and Art Gallery of New South Wales; 'GROH GOH, Rehearsal for Rangda' (2023) for the 2023 TarraWarra Biennial and the 17th Jogja Biennale, Indonesia; and 'Patiwangi, the death of fragrance' (2021) for The National 2021: New Australian Art.

In 2021 Leyla was awarded the 66th Blake Art Prize for her film, 'Kidung', which engages with Bali’s suppressed histories of political violence. Her work has been exhibited widely through major national and international exhibitions at: Museum of Contemporary Art, UQ Art Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre, West Space, Guangdong Times Museum, China and Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea.

She works collaboratively as a member of Woven Kolektif and is a lecturer in Fine Arts at Monash University.

We celebrate this fantastic exhibition with a closing event on 8 August from 12 to 4. The event is catered, please RSVP via the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/storied-places-tickets-1993576796865?aff=oddtdtcreator

Vale Vivienne Binns OAM (1940–2026)We at LAI are saddened to hear of Vivienne Binns OAM passing, a pioneering figure in ...
03/08/2026

Vale Vivienne Binns OAM (1940–2026)

We at LAI are saddened to hear of Vivienne Binns OAM passing, a pioneering figure in the history of Australian art, feminist practice and creative experimentation. Our thoughts are with her family and community at this time.

Image: Vivienne Binns, Kite-like, 2011. La Trobe University Art Collection.

Address

121 View Street
Bendigo, VIC
3550

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+61354447272

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