A painting of space

Welcome to the Power Institute. 

We are a Foundation based at the University of Sydney dedicated to understanding the visual world, through art and visual culture. We support research, publish texts, and organise events.

JW Power, [Untitled], c. 1938, Chau Chak Wing Museum, PW1961.347.
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Visions

15-17 August: A forum on the contemporary art, science and politics of seeing, co-presented by the Power Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

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2025 Paris Residency Fellowships: Applications Closing Soon!

You can now apply to be one of our 2025 Nicholas & Angela Curtis Cité Internationale des Arts Residency Fellows. Applications close 31 July 2024!

Ian Burn sitting at his desk in London.

Ian Burn: Collected Writings 1966-1993

We're proud to announce a major new publication: the most comprehensive collection of writings by Ian Burn, artist, curator and "ex-conceptual artist", edited by Ann Stephen.

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Matisse: Minotaure to Verve

An exhibition of treasures from the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library collection, curated by Roger Benjamin. On view from March to April 2024.

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Simryn Gill: Schaeffer Library Artist in Residence 2024

In 2024, Simryn Gill will be the Schaeffer Library Artist in Residence, finding a place for her practice amidst the Library's unique collection. 

Publishing

All books
Cover of book "Chinese Toggles"

Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature
By: Shuxia Chen and Min-Jung Kim

$49.95AUD
This book introduces the understudied cultural artifact of the Chinese belt toggle, known as zhuizi (坠子). Similar to their better-known Japanese counterparts netsuke, these small carved ornaments offer a rare glimpse into everyday life in early modern China. Toggles were a feature of traditional Chinese garments from the 17th century but were scarcely collected. A collaboration between the Powerhouse Museum and Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, this publication reveals one of the world’s largest collections of these extraordinary objects.
Ian_Burn_Collected_Writings_1966-1993_Front_Cover

Ian Burn: Collected Writings 1966–1993
By: Ann Stephen

$49.00AUD
Ian Burn has been described as many things: an activist, a trade-unionist, a journalist, an art critic, a curator and an art historian—or, as he once described himself in a moment of self-deprecating alienation, ‘an ex-conceptual artist’. Edited by Burn’s friend, frequent collaborator and eminent art historian, Dr Ann Stephen, this volume brings together 49 pieces of Burn’s own agile and expansive writings alongside a vast collection of his artworks. The collection concludes with reflections on Burn’s life and work from prominent figures and past collaborators in the form of memorial lectures.
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Yhonnie Scarce: The Light of Day
By: Edited by Clothilde Bullen with contributions by Timmah Ball, Kelly Gellatly, Natalie Harkin and Tamsin Hong

$75.00AUD
Edited by Clothilde Bullen, with essays by Timmah Ball, Kelly Gellatly, Natalie Harkin and Tamsin Hong, this volume is an image-rich, comprehensive survey of internationally acclaimed Kokatha and Nukunu artist Yhonnie Scarce.