In welcoming visitors back to the Gallery, we’ve assembled a group of large-scale works of art at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) that reflect on the easing of an unprecedented period of social restrictions. One such work is Australian artist Brian Dunlop’s Room with a visitor, though painted in the 1970s it could act…
Continue reading » “‘Room with a visitor’: A poster for social distancing”
In 1988, the year of Australia’s bicentenary, the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) was officially gazetted as Australia’s national floral emblem, enjoying a popular acceptance as the national flower long before then. We’ve been celebrating the Wattle for different reasons over the last century, and in 2020 for the first time, Brisbane is lighting up in…
Continue reading » “National Wattle Day: A celebration of a floral emblem”
Daniel Boyd, born in Cairns, Queensland, is an artist of both Aboriginal and South Sea Islander heritage, whose works often deal with the complexity of the history of South Sea Islander labour in Queensland and its legacy. This is one of our state’s most important historical narratives, with some 62 000 labourers brought to Queensland…
Continue reading » “In Daniel Boyd’s works, Australian history is re-told”
Wood carving is an important ceremonial art in Aurukun, a town and coastal locality in western Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland. Major sets of carved icons used in public ceremonies in the 1950s and 60s have been collected and are now housed in Australia’s major museums. The renaissance of art in the community has centred…
Objects rather than paintings can reveal the rich history of Indigenous Australian culture from colonial times to the present day. Over tens of thousands of years, vigorous contact between Queensland’s many Indigenous language groups has meant an equally long history of shield-making, but despite their popularity and sophistication, these important cultural works are yet to…
QAGOMA has acquired seven Papunya boards with funds from the Australian Government’s National Cultural Heritage Account, painted in the first critical years of Australia’s contemporary Aboriginal art movement. The Gallery is dedicated to showcasing historical and contemporary Indigenous Australian art and reflecting the rich diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. This acquisition guarantees…
Continue reading » “Papunya Tula Art Movement boards retained in Australia”
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.