The art and legacy of Gordon Bennett (1955–2014), one of Australia’s most influential contemporary artists, will be on show at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 7 November 2020 to 21 March 2021. ‘Unfinished Business: The Art of Gordon Bennett’ celebrates the Queensland-based artist’s globally recognised contribution to contemporary art. The exhibition showcases Bennett’s…
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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…
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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…
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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…
We look back to Queensland’s settlement through the pioneering photography of Richard Daintree (1832-78). Daintree moved to Queensland in 1864 where he ran pastoral properties, explored new territory from a geological perspective, and indulged his interest in photography. This selection of photographs are from a group of 20 Queensland images from around 1870. The surname…
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Large scale paintings from Queensland’s Colonial period are extremely rare. (Red-tailed Black Cockatoos) by Anthony Alder (1838-1915) dated c.1895 shows a male and female pair of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii), also known as Banksian or Banks’ Black Cockatoo, native to Australia and found in eucalyptus woodlands or along water courses. This species has disappeared…