A major new exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) is turning the traditional museum experience upside down. Created by Dr Sanné Mestrom, an artist and senior lecturer in visual arts at the Sydney College of the Arts (SCA), The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Her Parts invites visitors to touch, play with, and inhabit sculptural works just in time for the winter school holidays.
Running alongside the NGA’s blockbuster Cézanne to Giacometti exhibition until 21 September, Dr Mestrom’s interactive installation responds to works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Klee, and Giacometti. Through participatory experiences, the exhibition examines female representation in the modernist canon and reimagines how audiences engage with art.
“We’re taught to look at art from a distance, but what happens when we’re invited to touch it, build with it, and even inhabit it?” asked Dr Mestrom. “This work is about inviting people of all ages to experience art through their bodies, not just their eyes.”
Art, you can play with
Challenging the conventional ‘hands-off’ museum culture, The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Her Parts invites audiences to touch and explore Dr. Mestrom’s sculptural works in the heart of a national institution.
Visitors can create 3D cubist works and explore tactile, abstract shapes through interactive bronze reliefs, drawing systems, and spatial installations. The exhibition encourages children and adults to co-create, learn, and play together.
Photo credit Kerrie Brewer
“This is real art that both children and adults can engage with,” Dr Mestrom said. “It’s a playful adventure that’s equally educational – I tested many of these ideas in my son’s primary school art class. The kids showed me how they learn, through movement, touch, and curiosity, and their feedback shaped the final exhibition. It’s powerful, reciprocal learning.”
Dr Mestrom has a long tradition of incorporating play into her artwork. She uses interactive, large-scale and functional sculptures, from skating installations to children’s playgrounds, to question urban design’s physical and social aspects. Her research investigates ways art in public places can potentially create spaces for intergenerational play.
“I make sculptures that people can move through and interact with, because I want art to feel like part of everyday life, not something distant or untouchable,” she said. “When we play with art, we start to see the world differently. It’s a way to break out of the usual rules and routines, and that kind of freedom can be quietly powerful, even political.”
Commercialising visual arts research
Dr Mestrom’s exhibition results from a four-year Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA) research project and is an example of research translation and commercialisation in the arts. Her broader research into playful environments and inclusive spaces has influenced urban policy and generated $1.7 million in research income, demonstrating her work’s civic and commercial value to the broader public.
The exhibition also contributes to the NGA’s Know My Name initiative, which aims to address the gender imbalance and increase the representation and visibility of women artists in Australian art collections. Through her work, Dr Mestrom actively challenges audiences to rethink how the female body is represented and experienced.
“This is about loosening the grip of hierarchy and ownership in art,” said Dr Mestrom. “My work is inclusive, it’s playable, and it’s about making space for new ways of seeing and being in spaces accessible by all.”
Real-world learning for students
SCA students played a vital role in bringing the exhibition to life, gaining hands-on, professional experience in the arts industry while studying. PhD student Nadia Odlum was the research assistant on Dr Mestrom’s DECRA project, where they contributed to creating the sculptures in the exhibition.
“Working on this project has given me a greater understanding of how to bridge theory and practice,” Odlum said. “I’ve worked with architects, urbanists, sociologists and educators, giving me a new understanding of the importance of play in art.”
Emerging artist Bronte Cormican Jones, recent graduate of a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) at SCA, has worked with Dr Mestrom as an artist’s assistant throughout her degree, and helped with the exhibition’s installation at the NGA.
“Witnessing Sanné’s vision take form in the early stages of a project right through to the final execution has greatly shaped my own process and taught me so much about what it means to be an artist, to have great ambition and drive, to challenge yourself, to problem solve and to make art that matters.”
The SCA is home to leading artists and educators. Dr Mestrom and Dr Madeleine Kelly, senior lecturer and undergraduate curriculum coordinator at the SCA, are finalists in the 2025 Wynne and Archibald Prizes respectively, and both the sitter Justene Williams and artist Julie Fragar of this year’s Archibald winner are SCA alumni.
The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Her Parts is at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra until 21 September 2025.
