Image: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
The National Gallery of Australia has launched ‘The Art of Mathematics’, a multimedia project created with mathematics educator Eddie Woo for National Science Week 2026.
The project comprises a three-part video series, an eight-stop audio tour, an essay and a learning resource. The videos, now streaming on YouTube, examine eight works in the national collection, including Jackson Pollock’s ‘Blue poles’ (1952), Lindy Lee’s ‘Ouroboros’ (2021–23), Bert Flugelman’s ‘Cones’ (1982) and Neil Dawson’s ‘Diamonds’. Animated illustrations accompany Woo’s presentations.
The audio tour can be accessed on a personal device at the Gallery or from home. Its stops include Gemma Smith’s ‘Boulder #2’, Janet Fieldhouse’s ‘Dance series transformation 4 [armbands]’ and The Kulata Project’s ‘Kulata Tjuta: Tirkilpa’ (2017–23).
Designed for educators teaching Years 7–10, the learning resource was developed with National Gallery Artist Educators. It includes inquiry questions, making activities and opportunities for reflection, using works by Pollock, Smith and The Kulata Tjuta Project to consider links between mathematical concepts and artists’ ideas.
“Mathematics is not only a tool for measurement or calculation, but also a language of creativity and curiosity,” Woo says.
