Opening in August, SOUL fury is presented by Bendigo Art Gallery in collaboration with independent curator Nur Shkembi.

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SOUL fury will bring together the work of sixteen leading Australian and international contemporary artists.

Works, gleaned from artists' studios, private and major national collections will be displayed across six galleries, featuring a number of mediums and creative approaches including sculpture, photography, painting, installation, video and textiles.

Shkembi said the exhibition will draw on the interconnectedness of global contemporary art and the female lived experience to offer insight into the dynamism, beauty vulnerability and feminist power.

"Each of the artists presented in SOUL fury has a diverse background, but are united by the force and eloquence of their creative voice and their ability to reframe conventional approaches to established visual and symbolic languages," she said.

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"As a curator and scholar, I see the foregrounding of narratives by female artists as crucial not only to the field of art history, but to the history of humanity.

"Through their work, the artists explore a myriad contemporary themes - from challenging patriarchal norms; politics; colonisation; identity; history, Islamophobia and refugee rights, as well as the complexity and beauty of familial narratives and personal memory."

Highlights include photographs from Iranian artist Shadi Ghadirian's Ghajar series, sculptural work by UK and Pakistan based artist Naiza Khan and delicate ceramic works from Somali-born Australian artist Idil Abdullahi and Pakistani-born Australian artist Mehwish Iqbal.

Bendigo Art Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot said SOUL fury follows other recent national and international exhibitions presenting works by prominent female artists.

"This exhibition showcases the longstanding art practices and unique perspectives of a diverse group of women from a shared Islamic heritage, many challenging dominant misconceptions and stereotypes," she said.

"We are honoured to work with Nur Shkembi to amplify the contribution these artists have made, and will continue to make, in shaping art history and contemporary art practice, which to date has been largely unacknowledged."

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Another major exhibition coming to Bendigo in July will be Brett Whiteley: Drawing is Everything.

A major touring exhibition from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, it is the first exhibition to explore the important role the medium played in Whiteley's practice.

The exhibition will feature over 110 works including early images of Sydney and Europe, the abstracts that bought Whiteley international fame in the 1960s, as well as the lyrical landscapes, portraits, interiors and nudes.

Ms Bridgfoot said the exhibition offered a rare opportunity for audiences to explore Brett Whiteley's prolific drawing practice.

"Whiteley's drawings frequently underpinned his research and preparation for paintings, and the exhibition brings several important paintings into dialogue with drawings from the time period or that relate to the work itself," she said.

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"We are delighted to present this major exhibition from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Bendigo, which offers an insight into the artist's creative and domestic life, his relationships, travels and interests."

Exhibition highlights include Self portrait in the studio 1976 which Whiteley won the Archibald Prize in 1976 and Autumn (near Bathurst) - Japanese Autumn 1987-1988.

Brett Whiteley: Drawing is Everything will run from July 31 to October 31 2021.

SOUL fury will run from August 7 to October 24, 2021.

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