Art Gallery of New South Wales Presents 'Avatar: Forms of Vishnu'
From 20 June to 5 October 2026, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney will present 'Avatar: Forms of Vishnu.' This exhibition, curated by Dr. Chaitanya Sambrani and Melanie Eastburn, highlights the art and narratives from South and Southeast Asia that honor Vishnu. It will display a variety of artworks, including textiles, paintings, sculptures, and photographs depicting Vishnu's avatars such as Matsya, Kurma, Krishna, Rāma, and Kalki. The pieces are drawn from Australia, India, Cambodia, Switzerland, and the UK. Significant loans feature a late-500s 'Krishna Govardhana' from Cambodia, a mid-600s lintel from Battambang, and bronzes and folios from renowned institutions like the Ashmolean Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition will also include an introduction by the curators.
Key facts
- Exhibition dates: 20 June – 5 October 2026
- Curators: Melanie Eastburn (AGNSW senior curator of Asian art) and Dr Chaitanya Sambrani (Australian National University)
- Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
- Focus: Vishnu, the Hindu deity who preserves order, and his avatars including Matsya, Kurma, Krishna, Rāma, and Kalki
- Loans from Australia, India, Cambodia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
- Contemporary artists: Gitanjali Das, Kalyan Joshi, Jumaadi, Desmond Lazaro, Kalam Patua, Nalini Malani, Pushpamala N, Sumakshi Singh, Satyanarayan Suthar
- Key loans include 'Krishna Govardhana' (late 500s) and 'Vajimukha (Hayagriva or Kalkin)' (late 500s–early 600s) from the National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh
- Includes a c. 1690–1700 painting attributed to Devidasa from the AGNSW collection
Entities
Artists
- Melanie Eastburn
- Chaitanya Sambrani
- Gitanjali Das
- Kalyan Joshi
- Jumaadi
- Desmond Lazaro
- Kalam Patua
- Nalini Malani
- Pushpamala N
- Sumakshi Singh
- Satyanarayan Suthar
- Devidasa
- Marcus Bunyan
- John Gollings
- Katherine Dahab
- Diana Panuccio
- Thierry Ollivier
- Mrs Hoey
- Catharina Dohrn
- Balthasar Reinhart
- Nanni Reinhart
- Cowasji Jehangir
- Howard Hodgkin
- Hamida Banu Begum
- Krishnamurti
- Carlos Castaneda
- William Blake
- Carl Jung
- Louise Martin-Chew
Institutions
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Australian National University
- School of Art and Design, Australian National University
- National Museum of Cambodia
- Battambang Provincial Museum
- Ashmolean Museum
- University of Oxford
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
- Museum Rietberg
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Art Resource
- National Museum, New Delhi
- Museum of Art and Photography
- Google Arts & Culture
- Artblart
- Rami Varma Press
- Ravi Varma Press
- The University of Queensland
- The Conversation
Locations
- Sydney
- Australia
- New South Wales
- India
- Cambodia
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- Phnom Penh
- Takeo
- Angkor Borei
- Wat Koh
- Svay Rieng
- Kouk Trap
- Battambang
- Tuol Baset
- Tamil Nadu
- Mumbai
- Oxford
- Zurich
- New York
- New Delhi
- Bengaluru
- Agra
- Lahore
- Pakistan
- Lucknow
- Nepal
- Vrindavan
- Braj
- Govardhan Hill
- Yamuna
- Dandaka forest
- Ayodhya
- Lanka
- Shonitapura
- Mandara
- Rajasthan
- Mewar
- Odisha
- Bangladesh
- Dhaka
- Shialdi
- Indonesia