Australian Indigenous Art to Tour Internationally Despite Referendum Fallout

When Australia was sharply divided following the victorious “no” vote in last year’s referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the director of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Tony Ellwood, moved forward with plans for a groundbreaking international exhibition of Indigenous Australian art. This exhibition, titled The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art, will debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC on 18 October next year, before traveling to various locations across the US and Canada.

Masterpieces on Display

"Many of the works traveling are globally recognized as undisputed masterpieces," says Ellwood. Among the highlights never before seen in North America is the late desert painter Emily Kam Kngwarray’s Anwerlarr anganenty (Big Yam Dreaming) (1995), a vast piece measuring three by nine meters. Another standout is Mun-dirra (Maningrida Fish Fence) (2023), a 100-meter long fiber work woven by women from Central West Arnhem Land.

Impact of the Referendum

The failure of the Voice referendum, which led to aggrieved Indigenous leaders declaring a "week of silence," did not hinder the exhibition project. "No, it didn’t," asserts Ellwood. "This community of [Indigenous] artists in our country transcend all of that. We have such a phenomenally successful and rich group of artists, both rural and urban. We’ve been passionate about getting them shown more fully around the globe for years."

Challenges and Logistics

Ellwood acknowledged the major hurdle was finding venues willing to host an exhibition unfamiliar to many audiences. "The cost of getting these works to the other side of the world is also a big issue. So that’s transcended any of the local issues that may have arisen, like the vote," he explains.

A Diverse Collection

The Stars We Do Not See will feature works from the NGV’s extensive collection, which includes 4,700 pieces from mainland Australia and the Torres Strait with contributions from more than 130 artists. Contemporary Indigenous practitioners in the exhibition include Brook Andrew, Richard Bell, Reko Rennie, Maree Clarke, and Lorraine Connelly-Northey. Notable Kimberley artists from Western Australia, such as Queenie McKenzie and Rover Thomas, will also be represented.

Prominent figures like Gulumbu Yunupingu, the first Yolngu woman to gain international acclaim for her bark paintings, will feature alongside a major Central Desert work Spirit Dreaming through Napperby Country (1980) by Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, which chronicles the dispossession of the Anmatyerre people.

The vibrant paintings of Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori, celebrated with a survey exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2022, will also be on display. The exhibition will feature historical pieces from the late 19th century, including works by William Barak and Tommy McRae.

International Tour

After its Washington debut, the exhibition will tour to the Denver Art Museum in Colorado, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. Ellwood notes that the exhibition grew out of his friendship with Kaywin Feldman, the director of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. In a reciprocal exchange, an exhibition from Washington will eventually come to Australia, though details are yet to be finalized.