Tim Burns exhibition brings six decades of disruptive art to AGWA

The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) has revealed a new major exhibition celebrating the works of Wheatbelt-born multimedia artist and filmmaker Tim Burns.

Titled Tim Burns – The Kinetic Moments, the exhibition runs from Saturday, October 17, to Sunday, February 28, and aims to introduce Burns to a new generation of artists following a prolific career across the globe in the late 20th century.

Burns’ career spans 60 years of film, conceptual art, performance and political intervention, with exhibits internationally at MoMa PS1 in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, Tokyo Film Festival, Sydney Biennale, Melbourne International Film Festival and San Francisco Film Festival. His work is represented in every state and territory in Australia, but The Kinetic Moments will be his first solo project on display in an Australian state art institution.

One of Australia’s most radical and inventive creative forces, The Kinetic Moments brings Burns’ work exploring surveillance, direct action, protest, terrorism, mining impacts and the military industrial complex to the forefront, having become increasingly relevant in the modern day.

“His work is not only historically significant; it speaks directly to the anxieties and debates shaping contemporary Australia,” said AGWA Director Colin Walker. “This exhibition is a chance to recognise Burns’ prescience, to celebrate his contribution to experimental art, and to introduce his ideas to new audiences who are now living inside the very conditions he was interrogating decades ago.”

The Kinetic Moments will bring together threads from throughout Burns’ storied career within the exhibition, including sculptural works, film projects, protest-driven performances and his engagement with art students and emerging practitioners.

Tim Burns – The Kinetic Moments will exhibit at the Art Gallery of Western Australia from Saturday, October 16, 2026, to Sunday, February 28, 2027. For more information, visit artgallery.wa.gov.au