Gut Waters
When
Saturday 26 July – Saturday 6 September 2025
10am-4pm
Where
5 Olympic Parade Bankstown, NSW 2200
Accessibility
Wheelchair/limited mobility accessible
Accessible toilets
Assistance animals welcome
Gut Waters is not your average art show.
This quirky and eye-opening exhibition dives deep—literally—into the weird and wonderful world of gut health.
Opening 26 July at Bankstown Arts Centre, it brings together Aussie and international artists who explore everything from digestion and microbiomes to poop transplants and moon cycles. Expect wild visuals, fascinating ideas and a few surprises along the way.
Curated by Dr Vanessa Bartlett, Gut Waters features new works by Eugenia Lim and Helen Pynor, plus other boundary-pushing artists who aren’t afraid to get a little messy. The exhibition is part of the Bankstown Arts Centre’s Open Day, which runs alongside Bankstown Bites, so it’s the perfect mix of food, art, science and fun.
Whether you’re into health, the environment or just love creative thinking, Gut Waters is the kind of experience that sticks with you—and might just change how you think about your own belly.
Try these activities
Saturday 23 august, 10am-1pm
Bubble up stories
Come bubble together in a one-of-a-kind fermentation session!
We’ll explore stories of contamination and turn them into your own fizzy jar to take home.
Through chatting, reflecting and hands-on making, discover how contamination can be a creative, boundary-blurring force that sparks connection and change.
Using salt, surplus and shared time, we’ll mix, bruise and pack our experiences into bubbling jars full of memory and transformation.
Bring curiosity, busy hands and a story ready to shift—leave with your own ferment and maybe a fresh way to see the world.
saturday 23 august, 1.30pm
Distill & discover
Join artist Justine Youssef in a multi-sensory distillation session, where you’ll extract fragrant hydrosols from rose, cedar and wild herbs using matrilineal techniques from her Lebanese heritage.
This hands-on session ties into her installation artwork “Somewhat Eternal”, exploring how rituals and plants carry histories, shape ecology and invite you to reflect and reclaim your place in the world.
All materials provided—limited spaces available. Runs 40–60 minutes.
saturday 30 august, 2-3.30pm
Gut health panel
What’s the human gut microbiome and how does it impact health and wellbeing?
Join three experts to explore the science and art of the gut. Learn how trillions of microbes inside us affect everything from mental health to digestion.
Featuring Dr Helen Pynor, Gut Waters artist and cell/molecular biologist, this panel discussion is part of the Gut Waters exhibition at Bankstown Arts Centre, running 26 July–6 September 2025.
saturday 6 september, 11am-1pm
Create a body map
Get hands-on with collage and drawing to explore the worlds inside your body.
What goes into your gut and what comes out? Add colours, shapes, patterns and textures to a map of your digestive system, inspired by the Gut Waters exhibition.
This drop-in session is informal, fun and flexible—stay as long as you like.
UNSW researchers will be around to guide you and answer questions.
saturday 6 september, 2-3.30pm
Art meets plumbing
Ever wondered how art, plumbing and microbiology can collide?
Hear from the team behind PIPES, a site-specific sculpture and fountain for Gut Waters, created by artist Eugenia Lim and plumber/gas fitter Jonni Te Waa.
Discover how internal plumbing, city sanitation systems and river water combine in a playful, ecological and relational artwork.
Learn how the fountain brews kombucha with water from Bankstown and Manly, tracing the flow of living waters and connecting ancient and contemporary life.
Explore Dharug land history, ecology and the vibrant intercultural hub of contemporary Bankstown.
How to get there
Train
Bus
Parking
