CCP photography at Hawthorn Arts Centre
The best way to start a set of comments on this exhibition Familial staged by Melbourne’s Centre for Contemporary Photography (the CCP) is to make the recommendation that you should see this exhibition – and that it is open till 25th April (closed on Sundays).
The artists are: Taysir Batniji, EJ Hassan, Nur Aishah Kenton, Mariela Sancari, Abigail Varney, and Annie Wang. The venue is the city council gallery in Hawthorn (Melbourne) – or to use the formal title: Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn Arts Centre, City of Boroondara.
‘Familial’ brings together six artists from around the world with works reflecting the complex aspects of family relationships.
According to the official words online: the work traces the emotional and psychological terrain of family – of bonds and ruptures, tenderness, memory and the ache of absence. The exhibition reflects on the complexities of connection in a meditation on love, longing and the enduring imprints our closest relationships leave behind.
Yes, there’s a host of serious family issues dealt with by the artists and a little bit of fun as well. The styles and quality of photography is mixed. But, this a reasonably big exhibition of photography staged in a very nice venue. It is worth the effort to travel across town to see it.
This exhibition is about photography as personal documentation and the use of this creative medium to provide an insight into the emotional thinking of these artists on the intimate topic of family.
I was totally taken in by the long wall of mother and son photographs by Annie Wang (below). I have written a separate piece about her work – link below.
This was the star of the show.
Here’s a other images from the exhibition:
and one below of the space outside the exhibition – the wonderfully renovated Hawthorn town hall spaces.
The CCP has its own set of images of the exhibition – click here.
The Town Hall Gallery site for the exhibition – click here.
Reminder that Familial is on from February 11 to Saturday 25 April 2026.
Link to my post about about Annie Wong’s