Reducing waste in exhibitions
An online sector conversation on sharing and reusing materials.
9-10am AWST / 11.30am-12.30pm ACST / 11am-1pm AEST / 12-1pm AEDT
Tuesday 8 December 2026.
Join NAVA, Museums & Galleries of NSW (M&GNSW) and Creative Climate for an online conversation exploring how artists, arts workers and organisations across the visual arts, craft and design sector can work together to reduce waste through material reuse, innovative exhibition design and more sustainable installation practices.
Across the sector, valuable materials are often discarded after exhibitions, while artists and organisations elsewhere are sourcing or purchasing similar resources. New approaches to exhibition design, installation methods and technologies also offer opportunities to reduce waste and the need for new materials.
This is an open, participatory conversation to share existing reuse initiatives within the sector, discuss challenges and opportunities, and identify possibilities for collaboration, including the possibility of developing a pilot initiative in 2027.
We will be joined by Mithra Stevens - a sustainability researcher and consultant specialising in circular supply chains and carbon accounting in the arts sector for an overview of what’s working in the UK and what approaches could be useful for Australia.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia and the NSW Government through Create NSW.
9-10am AWST / 1130am-1230pm ACST / 11am-1pm AEST / 12-1pm AEDT
Tuesday 8 December 2026
Online via Zoom
Image credit
Erika Scott, Cambium Itch, 2026. PVC pipes, plastic tubing, chair upholstery, lamps, and other hard-rubbish jetsam. Installation view, Institute of Modern Art (IMA). Photo by Joe Ruckli.
ID: Photo of lots of PVC communications conduit sticking out of a gallery wall, clustered with lamps, furniture and random household objects.
NAVA acknowledges and pays respects to the rightful Custodians of the many First Nations Lands on which this online event is streamed and received. We recognise Custodians of Country across all lands, waters and territories, and pay respects to First Nations ancestors and Elders.
Sovereignty was never ceded.
This always was, and always will be Aboriginal Land.
