Canberra vs the Government: Prints from the archive of Megalo Print Studio
Jul 26, 2025 to Oct 26, 2025
Image: Wendy Murray, Suburban Roadhouse No.14, 2011
About
Guest curated by printmaker and Megalo founder, Alison Alder, Canberra vs the Government: Prints from the archive of Megalo Print Studio that, through the lens of printmaking, reclaims the identity of Canberra beyond its political structures. By drawing on the rich history of Megalo Print Studio’s archive, Canberra vs the Government provides an insightful exploration into the medium of print as a tool for describing and building communities both locally and internationally.
With the youth unemployment rate surging to 23.2% for 15-19 year olds and 13.4% for 20-24 year olds in Canberra in 1980, Megalo International Screenprint Collective was born. Canberra, home to around 180,000 people, primarily young families, was suffering and one organisation, Jobless Action, was busy setting up enterprises with the aim of providing spaces for young people to create their own jobs.
Housed in the laundry of a former migrant camp on the flanks of Mt Ainslie, right behind the Australian War Memorial, Megalo started out producing screenprinted posters advertising community events and services, agitating for social change and championing political action.
As the years went by the posters became more sophisticated and the studio grew to include facilities for screenprinting on textiles. The studio offered classes to local residents and independent projects were developed aimed at improving social cohesion for different community groups within the Canberra community.
Twenty years later, the ACT Government bought the printmaking equipment of Studio One, another Canberra print institution that had offered artists access to printmedia other than screenprinting with etching, lithographic and etching presses. Megalo was now able to call itself Megalo Print Studio, the only studio in Australia to offer such a wide range of printmaking processes for artists and the community to access.
Forty-five years later, Canberra vs the Government, currently on exhibition at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, demonstrates the diversity of artistic activity, both conceptually and technically, held in the archives of Megalo Print Studio and Gallery. Four themes establish a trajectory of artistic intent as artists visualised their view of the world through the prism of Canberra as home, as a tourist destination, or as the seat of power.
Showcasing works from the early, and often very raw, screen prints to beautifully sophisticated lithographs, Canberra vs the Government is an exhibition not to be missed.
Wendy Murray, Suburban Roadhouse No.14, 2011
