Aurukun Men’s Contemporary Ceremonial Art

Joe Ngallametta, Kugu-Muminh/Kugu-Uwanh people, Australia 1945-2005 / Thap yongk (Law pole) 2004 / Natural pigments with PVA fixative on linen / 61 x 91cm / Purchased 2005. The Queensland Government's special Centenary Fund / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Estate of the artist / View full image
When
22 Jun 2020 – 23 Jan 2022
Where
Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery 1 & 2
About
In the early 2000s, senior Wik and Kugu law men from the Aurukun region on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula pioneered a significant contemporary movement: They reimagined their ceremonial visual traditions as contemporary art embodying ancestral narratives and maintaining spiritual and historical connections between the past and present, and fostered intergenerational exchange through their art practices.