Darlinghurst in the '70s and early '80s was a hotbed of music, art, theatre and progressive politics. Nimrod Theatre (now Belvoir) was making its mark, the clubs of Oxford Street were booming and over at the National Art School, artists such as Mental as Anything founder Chris O’Doherty (aka Reg Mombassa), Martin Sharp and Garry Shead were cutting their teeth making posters, paintings and protest art celebrating the area’s cultural awakening.
Paper Tigers brings together more than 200 posters, prints and ephemera from this period, in a special exhibition at the National Art School Gallery curated by former Rolling Stone editor Toby Cresswell and music writer Lesa-Belle Furhagen. It marks the centrepiece of the new Sedition Festival, which aims to connect art and politics and highlight social issues still being fought today. The exhibition will run in conjunction with two live music events: Girls in Our Town on September 20 and Riot in Cell Block 79 on September 28, along with a dynamic public program of talks, panel discussions and creative workshops.