Exhibition featuring Angela Tiatia's moving-image portrait of the CommBank Matildas FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Squad, shown alongside her survey exhibition Muse.
Angela Tiatia's The Matildas is showing at the Newcastle Art Gallery from 26 September 2026 to 7 February 2027. It's a moving-image portrait of all 23 players from the CommBank Matildas FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 squad, and it's a big one: filmed across three continents, five cities and seven shoots, it was commissioned with funds from Tim Fairfax AC and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
It's the National Portrait Gallery's most ambitious commission to date, and the first portrait of an entire team to enter the national collection. Director Bree Pickering described it as the first ever portrait commission of a whole team, and Tiatia herself says film allows the work to feel immersive and alive, elevating the players as heroes while connecting with them as humans. You'll see the players in uniform, and because it's a moving image, they're not just frozen in a single moment.
It's also a bit of a homecoming. Tiatia is a Sāmoan/Australian artist based right here in Newcastle, and the gallery describes her as one of the most vital voices in contemporary Australian art. Over the last 20 years, her practice has looked at global power structures and their impact on Pasifika communities, working across performance, moving image, painting, sculpture and photography to engage with climate, capitalism and colonisation. The Matildas is showing alongside Muse, a survey exhibition of her work, so you can see this portrait in the context of her wider practice.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Newcastle and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
Entry is free, and it runs through to 7 February 2027 at the Newcastle Art Gallery.
