Wattles in flower

As we celebrate National Wattle Day on the first day of September each year, we delve into two works that include the wattle — with over 1,000 species of acacia Australia-wide, it’s the nation’s largest family of flowering plants. While the flowering times of wattle vary greatly depending on the region, Australia’s national flower —…

North by North-West: Form, symbol & texture

The exhibition ‘North by North-West’ at the Queensland Art Gallery presents recent acquisitions and old favourites from the Gallery’s Indigenous Australian art collection, highlighting unique visual threads and continuities that traverse the top half of the continent. Over our blog series we will delve into the exhibition themes: ‘Journey across the Northern Territory’; ‘Seven Sisters’;…

2023 QAGOMA Foundation Appeal

The 2023 QAGOMA Foundation Appeal will this year support the acquisition of major works by Queensland Indigenous artists, beginning with Judy Watson, Teho Ropeyarn, and Brian Robinson in collaboration with emerging artist Tamika Grant‑Iramu. Here, we share insights into the works and their makers. Three works lead this year’s Appeal. An impressive sense of scale…

‘Lake Baker’ evokes the surface of the salt lake

A captivating work by Pitjantjatjara law man and artist Timo Hogan — Lake Baker 2021 (illustrated) — unfolds the ancient religion within the Pukunkura (Lake Baker) landscape, for which he is cultural caretaker, and the narratives of the beings that shaped it. DELVE DEEPER: North by North-West: Indigenous Australian art Based at Spinifex Arts Project…

Mavis Ngallametta’s work has personal significance

Wutan #2 2014 (illustrated) depicts a specific tract of land and its waterways in the Cape York region, Far North Queensland, leading to a site of significance to Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019) — a sister work to Ngak-pungarichan (Clearwater) 2013 (illustrated). This large portrait-format landscape uses its height to chart a tract of land and water,…