National Cartoon Gallery celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity in new exhibition

Australia’s rich cultural diversity will be on show at the National Cartoon Gallery’s latest exhibition to coincide with National Harmony Week in March.

The exhibition features over 150 cartoons from some of Australia’s finest talent, all highlighting the best, and sometimes worst aspects of a nation built on over 65,000 years of First Nations cultures and almost 250 years of immigration.

Gallery manager Bruce Nelson said the exhibition theme was very timely given the political and wider debate currently taking place about the topic.

“Multiculturalism’s defining spirit has evolved in recent years from a “feel-good” policy of celebrating food and festivals into a more complex social and political flashpoint we see daily in the media,” he said.

“The collection in this exhibition explores a number of attitudes around multiculturalism and First Nations people through satirical and sometimes brutal commentary.

“Whatever your view on the subject, we haven’t sanitised the cartoons chosen for the display and have let the artist’s work speak for their own opinions.”

Harmony Week is an annual celebration of Australia’s cultural diversity and the benefits it brings to the Australian community.

This year Harmony Week will be held from 17 to 23 March and includes the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD) on Friday 21 March.

The exhibition opens Wednesday 4th March and runs until 20th April.

The Bunker Gallery, now featuring both the National Cartoon Gallery and the new National Holden Motor Museum, is open Wednesday to Monday 10 am to 4 pm (closed Tuesdays).