UNSW Library announces Jason Phu as recipient of the 2026 Alumni Mural Program Level 2 Commission

University Librarian Martin Borchert is delighted to announce acclaimed contemporary artist and UNSW alumnus Jason Phu as the recipient of the 2026 Alumni Mural Program Main Library Level 2 Commission.

Selected through a competitive Expression of Interest process, Phu will create a new large-scale mural for the Main Library's Level 2 entrance area in early 2027. The Alumni Mural Program celebrates the creativity, diversity, and excellence of UNSW graduates while enriching the Library as a place of learning and connection.

A graduate of UNSW Art & Design, formally College of Fine Arts, Phu completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in 2011. Since graduating, he has established himself as one of Australia's most distinctive contemporary artists, earning recognition for a multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, installation, performance, moving image, and public art. Phu's work is informed by his experience as a Chinese-Vietnamese-Australian person, drawing on a range of influences including traditional Chinese ink painting, calligraphy, popular culture, and storytelling.

Over the past decade, Phu has exhibited across Australia and internationally. His achievements include winning the prestigious Sir John Sulman Prize in 2015 and receiving major commissions such as the Mordant Family Moving Image Commission at the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI). He is also one of the few contemporary artists to have been selected as a finalist in all three of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s major prizes: the Archibald Prize, Wynne Prize and Sulman Prize. His work has been exhibited at leading cultural institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Carriageworks, and is held in numerous public and private collections. He is represented by Chalk Horse Gallery and Station Gallery.

For the commission, Phu will create an approximately eight-metre mural titled Journey to the Lake with the Singing Giant of Knowledge. Drawing inspiration from Chinese landscape painting, mythology and storytelling traditions, the mural depicts a fantastical realm of mythical beings associated with literacy and poetry. In his proposal, Phu describes the Library as 'a place of discovery and adventure no matter what someone is researching. I hope this mural will reflect this.'

As a former UNSW student, Phu recalls borrowing books from the Library that continue to influence his creative practice today. The mural takes reference from two influential literary works: the sixteenth-century Chinese classic Journey to the West and the ancient text Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). In Phu's interpretation, the quest at the heart of Journey to the West becomes a broader story about the pursuit of knowledge, while the fantastical creatures of Shan Hai Jing invite playfulness and curiosity. Combining storytelling, humour, and visual complexity, Journey to the Lake with the Singing Giant of Knowledge promises to transform the Level 2 entrance into a vibrant and welcoming space that encourages visitors to reflect on the many ways knowledge is sought, shared, and reimagined.

UNSW Library looks forward to sharing the development of the project over the coming months and welcoming this extraordinary new commission to the Main Library in 2027.

Photo credit: Henry Trumble.