Glorious Days: Australia 1913

In 1913, just like today, Australia loved its sporting heroes. Victor Trumper, Dally Messenger and Snowy Baker were celebrities and entrepreneurs as well as elite athletes who were starting to realise that sporting glory could be financially rewarding.

Throughout Australia, the women of 1913 were fighting to have their voices heard. Rae Frances tells their story and outlines how women pursued their dreams of equality between the sexes.

Historian Jill Julius Matthews surveys magazines and movies from 1913 to look at how people in Australia spent their leisure time a century ago.

A lively look at the way Australia gained its navy in 1913, with historians Peter Stanley and David Stevens revealing how the acquisition was much more than just a collection of warships.

Photographic curator, historian and author Helen Ennis discusses the rise of photography in 1913 and its use by professionals, amateurs, ethnographers and scientific explorers, as well as exploring similarities and differences in 100 years of portraiture.

Tom Griffiths tells the story of the young Australians who set out to explore the frozen continent in the name of scientific curiosity, and how 1913 was a year of trauma and waiting, and of nightmares more than dreams.

Andrew Sayers highlights the new directions being explored by important Australian artists around 1913, many of whom are little-known today. He also examines the role of arts and crafts in 1913 society and Australian reactions to new art movements in Europe.

Canberra historian Matthew Higgins tells a story of adventure and discovery by three young men, Percy Sheaffe, Harry Mouat and Freddie Johnston, working in Australia’s rugged mountain country to mark the national capital and its surrounding territory.

Historian Nicolas Brown reflects on the emerging world of modernity of Australia in 1913, and the world lost to looming international pressures and the threat of war.

The Governor-General Quentin Bryce highlighted the role of women in Australia and the importance of Indigenous culture, as portrayed in the exhibition, as she took a retrospective look at where we have come from in 100 years and where we may go in the next 100 years.