About the exhibition

Veiled Histories is an extraordinarily powerful and visually beautiful collection of works layered with truths both hard and shared, and a testament to the shift in the contemporary commentary within First Nations art.

A paradigm shift in 1984, by Artspace Gallery in Sydney, NSW, that presented an exhibition, Koori Art, triggered the introduction of a contemporary Indigenous aesthetic and demonstration of urban voices in First Nations arts practice to the mainstream. In Queensland, the rise of influential art collectives like Campfire Group (1991–2002); ProppaNOW Artists Collective (2003-) with Jennifer Herd as a founding member, key commercial galleries including FireWorks Gallery in Brisbane (1993-); and the opening of the Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art (BoCAIA) at the Queensland College of Art (QCA) in 1993 have been instrumental in bringing to the fore the artwork and arts practice of contemporary Indigenous artists.

This allowed artists such as Jennifer Herd and Joanne Currie Nalingu to speak of First Nations peoples’ experiences both through their lens of history and the now; living on the edges of cities and towns, of traditions lost, revived, and shared.

Artists

Jennifer Herd (MBarbarum), Joanne Currie Nalingu (Gungurri)

Tour dates

Acknowledgements

Veiled Histories: Works by leading First Nations artists – Jennifer Herd (MBarbarum) and Joanne Currie Nalingu (Gungurri) is a touring exhibition curated by Sunshine Coast’s Regional Gallery, Caloundra, and FireWorks Gallery, and presented in partnership with Sunshine Coast Council and Museums & Galleries Queensland (M&G QLD). This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program. M&G QLD and this project are supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. M&G QLD is a member of NETS Australia. NETS Australia is assisted by theVisual Art, Craft and Design Framework, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.