Over the past two years (2021–23), the Collection Online team have photographed thousands of artworks as part of the Gallery’s Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI). This project has allowed our dedicated conservators, collection managers and photographers to delve deep into Collection storage to uncover and care for artworks not displayed in decades.

The DTI has been supported by many generous individuals through donation to our Foundation. Here, we acknowledge the hundreds of donors to QAGOMA’s ‘Unlock the Collection’ campaign, which makes our artworks more accessible and discoverable online — and in detail never seen before.

The Collection Online project allows us to share anew the Gallery’s diverse range of artworks. In ‘Small Figures’, you’ll discover some of the works we have recently prepared for photography, and some of the works that just made us smile. From small figures to tiny frogs, this display represents a sample of our teams’ favourite recent finds — the weird and whimsical, the cute and curious. 

‘Small Figures’ is on display in QAG’s Pelican Lounge from 20 Sep 2023 to 17 Aug 2025. As this is a rotating display, not all Collection works below will be on display simultaneously.

Feature image: Liu Jianhua / China b.1962 / Obsessive memories 2000 / Purchased 2004. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / © Jianhua Liu