In 2022, I joined UNSW Library as Curator, Special Collections and Exhibitions where I collaborate on research-based exhibitions, public art commissions, publications, object-based learning workshops, and interdisciplinary projects.
CURATED EXHIBITIONS
- (forthcoming) The Infinite Look: A History of Gazing Skyward, UNSW Main Library; 13 April – 30 October 2026.
- Revealing Riversleigh, UNSW Main Library; 29 September 2025 – 13 March 2026.
- Materials Revolution, UNSW Main Library; 31 March – 12 September 2025.
- Living Water: 75 years of water research at UNSW, UNSW Main Library, Law Library, Paddington Library; 8 July – 15 November 2024.
↳ Nominee, M&G NSW IMAGinE Award 2025 (Exhibition Project – Museums & Heritage – Small); (Engagement Program – Small). - Sonus Maris, Jervis Bay Maritime Museum, Huskisson, NSW; 5 July – 13 Oct 2024.
- Hearts, Hands, Minds: 75 years UNSW Art Collection (co-curator), UNSW Main Library, Level 5; 25 March – 14 June 2024.
- Protests & Pranks, UNSW Main Library, Law Library, Paddington Library; *postponed, new date TBD.
- Care is a relationship, UNSW Main Library, Level 5; 4 September – 17 November 2023.
↳ Highly Commended, M&G NSW IMAGinE Award 2024 (Engagement Program – Galleries – Small).
↳ Nominee, M&G NSW IMAGinE Award 2024, Accessible Arts Award for Access and Inclusion and Exhibition Project – Galleries – Small. - Love. Respect. Pride. (co-curator), UNSW Main Library, Level 3; 24 February – 26 May 2023.
- Sonus Maris, UNSW Main Library, Level 5; 6 February – 5 May 2023.
↳ Nominee, M&G NSW IMAGinE Award 2023 (Exhibition Project – Museums & Heritage – Medium).
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
- Big to small and shapes between, UNSW Main Library Level 3; 25 November 2025 – April 2026.
- Drawn to Extinction, UNSW Law Library; 7 August 2025 – 2026.
- Technological Revolution: The Age of Acceleration, UNSW Paddington Library; 7 May – October 2025.
- Industrial Revolution: Foundations of Modern Manufacturing, UNSW Main Library; 15 April – October 2025.
- Colour: Inflexions and Interactions, UNSW Main Library & UNSW Paddington Library; 16 December 2024 – 9 March 2025.
↳ Nominee, M&G NSW IMAGinE Award 2025 (Exhibition Project – Museums & Heritage – Small); (Engagement Program – Small). - Deep Illustrations, UNSW Main Library; 18 July – 11 December 2024.
- Liberating History: 50 Years of Tharunka’s “Women’s Issue”, UNSW Paddington Library; 6 March – 3 July 2024.
- Strange Tastes, UNSW Main Library; 21 November 2023 – 18 March 2024.
- Flesh & Bone: Illustrations of Anatomy, UNSW Main Library; 22 May – 18 August 2023.
- Ex Libris: 20th Century Australian Bookplates, UNSW Main Library; 5 December 2022 – 30 January 2023.
CATALOGUES & EXHIBITION TEXTS
- Exhibition labels, Strange Tastes (2023), UNSW Library.
- Exhibition labels, Flesh & Bone: Illustrations of anatomy (2023), UNSW Library.
- “Foreword,” in More-than-Human Wellbeing (exhibition reader) (2023).
- Exhibition labels, Love. Respect. Pride. (2023), UNSW Library.
- Exhibition labels, Sonus Maris (2023), UNSW Library.
- Exhibition guide, Ex Libris: 20th Century Australian Bookplates (2022), UNSW Library.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS & RECORDED MEDIA
- (forthcoming) Co-presenter & Panellist, ALIA National 2026, Sydney; 11-14 May 2026.
- Co-presenter, “Library as Laboratory: Collaborating Across Campus to Transform STEM Research into Exhibitions,” STEMLibANZ Learning and Teaching Virtual Workshop, Online; 3 December 2025.
- Co-presenter, “Seeing, Touching, Thinking: UNSW Library Experiential Learning Program,” UNSW Education Festival 2025, UNSW Sydney; 27 November 2025.
- Presenter, “Sustainable Exhibition Design: Educating Through Eco-Friendly Practices,” THETA 2025 Conference Winds of Change, Perth, WA; 26 May 2025.
↳ Audience Favourite Presentation Award; Richard D’Avigdor Conference Award 2024. - Audio Guide Recording for the exhibition Materials Revolution, UNSW Library, 9min: 51sec; May 2025.
- Co-presenter, “From Science to Art: Interdisciplinary Exhibitions at UNSW Library,” Arlis/ANZ 2024 Conference BEING SEEN, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney; 28 November 2024.
- Audio Guide Recording for the exhibition Living Water: 75 years of water research at UNSW, UNSW Library, 17min: 56sec; August 2024.
- Opening speech for the exhibition Love. Respect. Pride., UNSW Library, Sydney; 2 March 2023.
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
- Make or Break, Cover Crush, UNSW Main Library, Level 6; December 2023.
- Abdullah M.I. Syed, Chahār Bāgh: Garden of Knowledge, UNSW Main Library Level 7; September 2023.
MEDIA & CITATIONS
Crosby, Alexandra. “Ecological art can bring us closer to understanding nature. How does this look in the era of climate change?” The Conversation, 22 August 2024. Web.
“Living Water exhibition unveiled.” UNSW News, 1 August 2024. Web.
Lupton, Deborah. “Embodying social science research – The exhibition as a form of multi-sensory research communication.” London School of Economics, 12 July 2023. Web.
Lupton, Deborah, et al. “More-than-Human Wellbeing: Materialising the Relations, Affects, and Agencies of Health, Kinship, and Care.” M/C Journal 26:4 (2023): wellbeing.
Lupton, Deborah, Vaughan Wozniak-O’Connor, and Ash Watson. “Arts-Based and Sensory Methods to Imagine More-than-Human Automated Futures.” In The De Gruyter Handbook of Automated Futures: Imaginaries, Interactions and Impact, 395-412. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2024.
“Materials Revolution Exhibition: Transforming Community Perceptions of Waste.” Sustainable Communities and Waste, 26 May 2025. Web.
“UNSW hosts Timor-Leste President for discussions on water, food and health.” UNSW News, 18 October 2024. Web.
Watfern, Chloe, Priya Vaughan, and Katherine Boydell. “Care in the climate crisis: A collage.” Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 21 November 2025. Web.
About UNSW Library Exhibitions Program
As a point of intersection for students, researchers, and the broader community, UNSW Library is committed to enhancing the learning environment through an interdisciplinary exhibitions program. Over the academic year, UNSW Library stages one major exhibition per term in collaboration with partners across the University. Exhibitions allow academics to share and communicate their work as non-traditional research outputs. It is also an opportunity for students to encounter leading research and ideas outside their nominated disciplines. Through exhibitions, UNSW Library creates a space for discourse and discovery and supports scholarship not previously available within our collections.
