Three Echoes – Western Desert Art

Explore the poetic notion of echoes – how we can echo a thought, a sentiment or a consciousness.

In the 1970s, Australian Aboriginal people from the desert began talking to the world through art, transferring their creation stories of the land and people to canvas. Now, this foundational echo is going back and forth. No longer a one-sided, outward calling, it reverberates multi-dimensionally within Australia and around the world.

Curated by Djon Mundine OAM FAHA, this exhibition showcases 81 paintings, prints and batiks by 57 acclaimed artists from Ikuntji (Haasts Bluff), Papunya and Utopia Aboriginal communities in the western desert regions of the Northern Territory.

While the works are drawn from the early 1970s to early 2000s, the exhibition celebrates our world’s oldest continuous living culture and artistic traditions that span tens of thousands of years.

Three Echoes – Western Desert Art is an initiative of Museums & Galleries Queensland developed in partnership with Karin Schack and Andrew Arnott and curated by Djon Mundine OAM FAHA. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through its Visions of Australia program and through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. It is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, part of the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy.