Exhibition Opening | Paste 'Em Up: Territory Poster Art from the 70s–90s

COMING SOON | OPENING 29 JULY 2026

Off the back of a cultural explosion in the 1960s, fine art screen-printing techniques hit Australian streets in a new form: home-made posters. When a new wave of Do-It-Yourself poster artists arrived in the Territory and collaborated with First Nations cultural custodians, drawing on the inspiration of the natural environment, a new visual language—striking, earthy and totally unique—was born.

In a pre-internet world, every event and issue needed a poster. By the 1980s, a cultural revival was underway across the Territory. Community arts, theatre and music was thriving. First Nations Community Art centres were springing up, often staffed by skilled screen-printers. With connections to the community print studios in the south, these artists were able to design and print posters at scale, communicating First Nations and Territory issues to the world. 

Through the 1980s and 90s, poster artists continued to collaborate in bush art centres and the warehouses and garages of Darwin and Alice Springs, sharing techniques and responding to the issues of the day. The visual language they created accompanied all the NT’s most successful cultural exports, helping to craft the iconic image and reputation of the Northen Territory at home and abroad.

Follow this journey through Library & Archives NT’s new exhibition, Paste ’Em Up: Territory Poster Art from the 70s-90s.

WHEN:
Wednesday 29 July
5.30pm

WHERE:
Library & Archives NT
Level 2, Danala
54 Cavenagh Street, Darwin

Click here to book tickets to attend the exhibition opening.