This is a FREE event!

NSW Parliament is hosting Behind the Lines, an annual travelling exhibition of Australia’s year in political cartoons, from 4 July – 1 August 2024, featuring this year’s theme of All Fun and Games. To celebrate the occasion, you are invited to A Night with the Artists on 23 July for an opportunity to meet some of the creatives behind Australia’s rich tradition of political cartoons.

The exhibition, put together by the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD), celebrates the role of political cartoonists and highlights the power that their art has in contributing to our daily political and social discourse.

A Night with the Artists will kick off with a visit to the NSW Parliament chambers, followed by an opportunity to visit the exhibition in the Parliament’s Fountain Court. The curator of Behind the Lines, Dr Alex Walton, will be on hand to answer any questions. You will then be invited to a casual conversation, hosted by the curator with three female artists, about their experience with political cartoons. The three artists who will feature in the panel are:

• Cathy Wilcox – Sydney-based cartoonist and illustrator Cathy Wilcox has been drawing cartoons since 1989. Her work appears almost daily in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s The Age. She is the president of the Australian Cartoonists Association. She is also an award-winning illustrator of children’s books. Wilcox has received numerous Stanley, Walkley and Kennedy Awards. She was MoAD’s Political Cartoonist of the Year in 2009, 2016 and 2020.

• Fiona Katauskas – Sydneysider Fiona Katauskas has been a cartoonist since 1997 and is a cartoonist for The Guardian. Her work has also appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Age, New Matilda, and Eureka Street. She is the author and illustrator of The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made (2015) and the author and illustrator of a new kids’ book to be published in August titled Hi From Outer Space.
• Jess Harwood – Jess Harwood is an artist and campaigner living on Gadigal land in Sydney. She has published cartoons with The Guardian and her work has also been featured by the ABC, the BBC, and by social movements, charities and businesses.

Behind the Lines is a travelling exhibition developed by the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, proudly supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.

When: Tuesday 23 July 2024

Optional tour of chambers and exhibition viewing 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Talk with the artists 5:30pm – 6:45pm (exhibition will remain open until 7.15pm)

Where: Legislative Chambers, Jubilee Room and Fountain Court, NSW Parliament house