Opening April 18, 2026 — Gallery Brave, Surry Hills (Hibernian Building)
A decade of high-profile cannabis activism, public stunts, and legal challenges will culminate in a major new exhibition opening this April in Sydney.
“Who Are We Hurting”, presented by the Who Are We Hurting Collective, will run from April 18–21, 2026 at Gallery Brave in Surry Hills’ iconic Hibernian Building, bringing together ten years of cultural interventions that have consistently challenged Australia’s cannabis laws.
FROM STREET-LEVEL PROTEST TO GALLERY INSTALLATION
Founded by Australian activists Will Stolk and Alec “Craze” Zammitt, the Who Are We Hurting Collective has spent nearly a decade staging bold, large-scale public interventions designed to provoke conversation and challenge the realities of cannabis prohibition.
Their work has become widely recognised for its visibility, ambition, and willingness to operate outside traditional systems. Over the years, the collective has executed a series of high-impact actions, including:
- projecting pro-cannabis imagery and messaging onto major Sydney landmarks such as the Opera House and Harbour Bridge
- staging military-style protest convoys and vehicle-based demonstrations to highlight inconsistencies in drug-driving laws
- installing large-scale public sculptures and guerrilla artworks in prominent civic locations, often removed by authorities
- delivering symbolic financial gestures and public stunts aimed at exposing the economic contradictions of prohibition
- creating temporary “grow room” installations and public activations across the CBD
These works have frequently attracted media attention and legal scrutiny, positioning the collective at the forefront of Australia’s cannabis reform conversation.
A FITTING HOME: GALLERY BRAVE & HIBERNIAN BUILDING
The exhibition takes place at Gallery Brave, one of Sydney’s most culturally engaged contemporary art spaces, located inside the historic Hibernian Building in Surry Hills.
Gallery Brave has established itself as a street-facing platform for art, design, and culture, supporting work that exists outside traditional gallery conventions and engages directly with contemporary audiences.
The Hibernian Building — constructed in 1928 — has evolved into one of Sydney’s most important creative hubs. Over decades, it has become a layered, graffiti-covered environment filled with artists, musicians, photographers, and underground creatives.
Its walls carry the history of Sydney’s street art and subculture, making it a natural setting for an exhibition that sits at the intersection of protest, culture, and contemporary art.
Within this context, “Who Are We Hurting” is not just an exhibition placed inside a gallery — it becomes part of a broader cultural ecosystem embedded within the building itself.
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
“Who Are We Hurting” marks the first time this body of work has been consolidated into a single, curated exhibition.
The show transforms Gallery Brave into an immersive, controlled environment, where visitors move through a sequence of installations examining:
- criminalisation and policing
- surveillance and control
- economic and social costs of prohibition
- contradictions within drug classification systems
- the disconnect between public perception and legislative reality
At the centre of the exhibition is a large-scale installation recreating a detention environment, referencing the lived experiences of individuals impacted by cannabis-related offences. Surrounding works expand this narrative through objects, imagery, and interactive elements that confront viewers directly.
CONTEXT: A NATIONAL CONVERSATION
The exhibition arrives at a time of ongoing debate around drug policy reform in Australia.
Despite increasing public support for change and international shifts toward legalisation, cannabis remains criminalised across most jurisdictions. Individuals continue to face arrests, fines, loss of licences, and long-term consequences linked to cannabis-related offences.
For the Who Are We Hurting Collective, this exhibition is an extension of their long-standing question:
Who is actually being harmed by its prohibition?
FROM ACTIVISM TO CULTURAL MOVEMENT
Over the past decade, the collective’s work has evolved from guerrilla protest into a broader cultural movement.
Blending elements of street art, performance, protest, and visual media, their practice sits at the intersection of contemporary art and political activism. Their projects have consistently aimed to disrupt passive observation and instead provoke direct engagement.
This exhibition reflects that evolution — presenting activism not only as protest, but as a form of contemporary cultural production.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
Opening Night:
Saturday April 18, 2026 — 6:00 PM
Exhibition Dates:
April 18 – April 21, 2026
Location:
Gallery Brave
Hibernian Building
Surry Hills, Sydney
Gallery Hours:
10:00 AM – 6:00 PM daily
FEATURING
Who Are We Hurting Collective
Craze
Crisp
Ethan Frank
𝕃𝕒𝕕𝕪𝕛 𝕎ü𝕝𝕝𝕗
LahLah Binx
Willys World
ABOUT WHO ARE WE HURTING
Who Are We Hurting is an Australian-based collective known for its use of large-scale public interventions, visual activism, and media-driven campaigns to challenge cannabis prohibition.
Over nearly ten years, the group has developed a reputation for bold, highly visible actions that blur the line between protest, performance, and contemporary art. Their work consistently challenges audiences to reconsider established narratives around cannabis and its legal status.