A new display of artworks, ephemera and archival material by leading Australian artist Tracey Moffatt celebrates the donation of her archive to the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.

The anonymous gift includes an edition of every photographic work, film and video produced by Moffatt since 1985. It is the first donation of its kind to an Australian museum. 

The exhibition opens on 22 August 2026.

An artist of unparallelled calibre

The donation marks Moffatt as an artist who has cast a fresh lens on Australian art and culture. She is arguably Australia’s most recognised contemporary visual artist, known for her photo-performative photography, experimental films and videos. A career spanning four decades has seen her hold dozens of solo exhibitions and included in innumerable group exhibitions across the globe. 

Career highlights include films Nightcries – A Rural Tragedy (1989) and BeDevil (1993), with both featuring at the Cannes Film Festival. Moffatt represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2017 and, in 2012, became the first Australian artist to be honoured with a film retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Display offers rare insight

Tracey Moffatt Sorted - a look at her Archive has been produced in collaboration with the artist, who has generously provided complete access to an archive comprising thousands of documents. The exhibition includes previously unseen ephemera offering unique insight into her practice. Inspired by Andy Warhol, Moffatt’s “time capsules” include idea sketches, personal photographs, film props, correspondence and photo test prints, as Moffat says, “these demonstrate ideas that didn’t work”.

Artworks featuring in Tracey Moffatt Sorted include well-known works Scarred for Life II (1999) and film montage Other (2010).

Donated works and Moffatt's archive will be housed in the museum’s dedicated The Tracey Moffatt Archive room. Philanthropic support will fund a dedicated curatorial role. 

Moffatt said she is thrilled and honoured to have her archive deposited for safe keeping and ongoing display at the Chau Chak Wing Museum.

“I just love that one can walk through the museum and see an ancient Egyptian mummy and then, around the corner, cool and often obscure international contemporary art from the 1960s,” she said.

Chau Chak Wing Museum director Michael Dagostino said the museum was honoured to be entrusted as custodian of Moffatt’s work and ephemera. 

“When I started my arts career, I remember seeing the Scarred for Life series among other works by Tracey Moffatt and they still have a lasting impact on me today, as I am sure they have had on many others,” he said. 

“At any point in time, Tracey’s work is on display somewhere in the world. Tracey has been an innovator throughout her long and successful career. No museum in Australia has been gifted an artistic archive of such depth and scale.”

Tracey Moffatt Sorted runs from 22 August 2026 until 4 September 2027.