About
The Dax Centre is a leader in the use of art to raise awareness and reduce stigma towards mental health issues. Through our exhibitions and educational programs we seek to engage, inform and encourage community connections and conversations about mental health. We are the custodians of the Cunningham Dax Collection.
Our collection
Cunningham Dax Collection
The only Collection of it's type and size in Australia and only one of four such collections in the world, the Cunningham Dax Collection is named after its founder Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908 – 2008). The collection contains over 16,000 works which have all been created by people who have a lived experience of mental health issues or psychological trauma.
The Collection tells stories about mental health, lived experiences and the value of art. It includes works on paper, canvases, photograph’s, textiles, sculptures, installations, artists’ books and diaries, digital media and films Two distinct eras are represented in the Cunningham Dax Collection; artworks produced within psychiatric hospitals from 1940s into 1970s and artworks donated to the Collection by artists and community groups from 1980s until the present.
In the early 2000s the Collection expanded to include artworks made by people who have experienced psychological trauma. This expansion led to a number of group donations, including the Childhood Abuse Collection, the Holocaust Collection, the Tsunami Collection, the Safe Havens Asylum Seekers Collection and the Bushfire Collection.
