Curatorial projects
Our curators actively collaborate with industry to build the collection – and to explore, interpret and share its stories.
Our curators are responsible for the ongoing development and interpretation of the national collection, acquiring new artefacts that represent both the breadth of Australian culture and the evolving nature of audiovisual technologies.
This work involves a dual focus:
- making critical decisions on what to preserve for the future
- actively managing creative projects and industry partnerships in the present.
By maintaining close ties with producers, broadcasters, streamers and independent artists, our curators identify historical gaps in the collection and stay abreast of emerging media trends.
These relationships are the foundation for signature initiatives such as NFSA Restores, which utilises digital technology to revive classic cinema, and Sounds of Australia, a public-facing program that identifies and celebrates iconic audio recordings. Through this combination of rigorous selection and active collaboration, the NFSA ensures the collection remains a living, functional resource rather than a static repository.
You can read more below about some of our work.
Creative projects
Sounds of Australia
Sounds of Australia is our ultimate 'mixtape' of the nation. Established in 2007, this annual program identifies and preserves the sound recordings that have left an indelible mark on Australian culture – those that are not just popular, but are socially, historically or culturally significant.
NFSA Restores
Our flagship program dedicated to ensuring that classic and cult Australian films aren't just preserved in a vault, but are actively revived for today’s digital screens. Launched in 2011, the program has spent over a decade rescuing titles from the physical and chemical toll that time takes on celluloid.
Fighting Spirit: The Art of Boxing
A creative partnership between curators from the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Portrait Gallery, this touring exhibition explores through visual art and moving images how the boxing ring has functioned as a stage for public spectacle, community connection and social change from the 1890s to the present day.
Collecting partnerships
Collecting radio and television
Through vital partnerships with the broadcast sector, our Off-Air Radio Capture and television Newscaf (News and Current Affairs) programs ensure our collection captures events of national significance as they break.