My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia
Birmuyingathi Maali Netta Loogatha, Kaiadilt people, Australia b. 1942 | Sally Gabori, Kaiadilt people, Australia, b c.1924 | Warthadangathi Bijarrba Ethel Thomas, Kaiadilt people, Australia b. 1946 | Thunduyingathi Bijarrb May Moodoonuthi, Kaiadilt people, Australia 1929 - 2008 | Kuruwarriyingathi Bijarrb Paula Paul, Kaiadilt people, Australia, b c.1937 | Wirrngajingathi Bijarrb Dawn Naranatjil, Kaiadilt people, Australia, 1935 - 2009 | Rayarriwarrtharrbayingat Amy Loogatha, Kaiadilt people, Australia, b. 1942 | Makarrki - King Alfred's Country 2008 | Synthetic polymer paint on linen | Purchased 2009 with funds from Professor John Hay, AC, and Mrs Barbara Hay through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Warwick Thornton, Kaytej people, Australia | Stranded 2011 | 3D digital video: 11:06 minutes, colour, sound, 16:9 widescreen | Purchased 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Image courtesy: Stills Gallery, Sydney
1 June – 7 October 2013 | Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) | Free admission
Opening Hours
10.00am — 5.00pm Monday to Friday
9.00am — 5.00pm Saturday and Sunday
9.00am — 5.00pm Public Holidays
‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia’ is the Gallery’s largest exhibition of contemporary art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to date. The exhibition examines the strengths of the Gallery’s holdings and explores three central themes — presenting Indigenous views of history (My history), responding to contemporary politics and experiences (My life), and illustrating connections to place (My country).
From paintings and sculptures about ancestral epicentres to photographs and moving-image works that interrogate and challenge the established history of Australia, to installations responding to political and social situations affecting all Australians, the thread that binds these artists is their collective desire to share their experiences and tell their stories.
Travel packages
If you’re travelling to Brisbane to see ‘My Country’, take advantage of the flight and accommodation packages available through Virgin Australia.
My Life As I Live It: First Peoples and Black Cinema
1 June – 1 September 2013 | Australian Cinémathèque, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) | Free admission
Presented in conjunction with ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home’.
The Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque presents a survey of first peoples and black cinema from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States and United Kingdom. At the centre of this program is a history of Indigenous Australian cinema shown alongside works that resonate internationally addressing themes of identity, culture and rights. The program takes its title from Essie Coffey’s landmark documentary about contemporary Aboriginal experience. Coffey made some of the first documentaries to be directed by an Indigenous Australian about Indigenous experience. Her works are representative of the way indigenous and black filmmakers have used film and video since the late 1970s for self-representation and self-empowerment. The program celebrates these path-breaking films and filmmakers and also offers an opportunity to discover important new voices internationally.
Featuring shorts, feature films and documentaries, the program includes films by Beck Cole (Warramungu/Luritja, Australia), Darlene Johnson (Dunghutti, Australia), Rachel Perkins (Arrernte/Kalkadoon, Australia), Ivan Sen (Kamilaroi, Australia), Warwick Thornton (Katej, Australia), Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa, New Zealand), Merata Mita (Ngāti Pikiao/Ngāi Te Rangi, New Zealand), Taika Waititi (Te-Whānau-ā-Apanui, New Zealand), Zacharias Kunuk (Inuit, Nunavik Canada), Shane Belcourt (Métis, Canada), Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki, Canada), Yves Sioui Durand (Huron-Wendat, Canada), Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho, United States), Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek, United States), Charles Burnett (United States), Spike Lee (United States), Marlon Riggs (United States), John Akomfrah (United Kingdom), and Isaac Julien (United Kingdom).
Gordon Hookey Kangaroo Crew
1 June 2013 – 27 January 2014 | Children’s Art Centre, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) | Free admission
The 'Kangaroo Crew' opens to coincide with ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home’.
Brisbane-based artist Gordon Hookey’s 'Kangaroo Crew' project for children, explores the kangaroo as a heroic symbol through narrative, hands-on and multimedia interactives.
Throughout the project children can engage with the kangaroo – a key motif in the artist’s work often used as a representation of Indigenous Australian people.
Media
Media release
To request access to media images for this exhibition, please email
For a full listing of current media releases see the Media section
