Cribb Island: Brisbane's Lost Suburb Exhibition

Museum of Brisbane invites audiences to rediscover the largely forgotten suburb of Cribb Island at the Cribb Island: Brisbane's Lost Suburb Exhibition through a captivating series of watercolours by Brisbane artist Joyce Hyam (1923–2021). 

In this watercolour series, Hyam captures fragmentary scenes of collapsed housing with rusted roofs, broken fences, abandoned boats and mangrove trees.

Cribb Island was once a vibrant suburb built on the Traditional Lands of the Yuggera and Turrabul peoples, who have cared for the area for more than 65,000 years. Affectionately known as “Cribbie,” the seaside destination offered affordable housing during the Great Depression and was famously the childhood home of the Bee Gees. 

Though the suburb no longer exists and now forms part of Brisbane Airport, Cribb Island endures in memory, in story, and now in art. This exhibition invites visitors to revisit a place lost to time yet deeply woven into Brisbane’s history.

Joyce Hyam was a prolific artist whose practice encompassed painting, printmaking and textiles. Born in Brisbane in 1923, Hyam studied at Brisbane’s Central Technical College and Queensland College of Art, and also undertook private tuition in Brisbane and during a brief period in Munich. Her own teaching career, spanning 1963 to 1994, was as diverse as her artistic practice. Hyam died in 2021, leaving behind a strong legacy as a significant 20th-century Brisbane artist.

Hyam had been a frequent visitor to Cribb Island since her childhood in the 1920s, with her aunt owning a beach house in what was then a bustling seaside destination. The artist’s Cribb Island scenes were produced later in the 1960s when, accompanied by fellow artist Dr Irene Amos OAM, she went on painting trips to the suburb, before it was resumed by Brisbane Airport.

Good to know – This exhibition is now on until 26 July 2026 and is suitable for all ages. To find out about access at the Museum, click here.

Museum of Brisbane is a valued partner of Must Do Brisbane.com

Image credits 

1. Cribb Island: Brisbane’s Lost Suburb at Museum of Brisbane 2025. Artworks: Joyce Hyam. Photo: Katie Bennett.

2. Cribb Island: Brisbane’s Lost Suburb at Museum of Brisbane 2025. Artworks: Joyce Hyam. Photo: Katie Bennett.

3. Cribb Island: Brisbane’s Lost Suburb at Museum of Brisbane 2025. Artwork: Forest Scene c1960s by Joyce Hyam. Photo: Katie Bennett.

4. Cribb Island: Brisbane’s Lost Suburb at Museum of Brisbane 2025. Artworks: Joyce Hyam. Photo: Katie Bennett.

5. Cribb Island: Brisbane’s Lost Suburb at Museum of Brisbane 2025. Artwork: Cribb Island Shed 1963 by Joyce Hyam. Photo: Katie Bennett.