Great and Small Kindred Creatures in Indigenous Australian Art
Vincent Namatjira, Western Aranda people, Australia b.1983 / Dingo Cavalerie 2025 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / 198 x 198cm / Proposed for the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Collection / Courtesy: The artist and Iwantja Arts / © Vincent Namatjira/Copyright Agency / View full image
When
21 Jun 2025 – 3 May 2027
Where
Queensland Art Gallery & Galleries 1 & 2 (Dr Paul Eliadis AM Galleries)
Admission
Free
About
Animals have played a central part in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and spiritual beliefs for over 60,000 years. Native fauna form an integral part of relationships with Country, in community and are a foundation of economies, identity and sustainability.
Over many millennia of co-existence animals have been central to survival as a food source, for First Nations people they are also absorbed into lore and culture as images of totemic power; and into the ancestral creation stories that link people, land and animals. ‘Great and small’ is a celebration of these connections.
Craig Koomeeta, Wik-Alkan people, Australia b.1977 / Dingo 2002 / Carved milkwood with synthetic polymer paint / 41.5 x 62.5 x 15cm / Purchased 2002. QAG Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Craig Koomeeta / View full image
Attrib. to Jimmy Mulwirrkbirrk Jambalulu, Jalama people, Australia c.1908–1960 / Captured kangaroo / Natural pigments on eucalyptus bark / 48.3 x 30.5cm / Gift of Robert Bleakley through the QAGOMA Foundation 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image
Tommy Mitchell, Ngaanyatjarra people, Australia 1943–2013 / Walu Rockhole Dreaming, Emu Heart, The Boy Who Turned Into Wind 2012 / Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 101.6 x 121.9cm / The Glenn Manser Collection. Gift of Glenn Manser through the QAGOMA Foundation 2014. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Tommy Mitchell/Copyright Agency / View full image