mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri Judy Watson
![Installation view of ‘mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson’ at the Queensland Art Gallery](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/m2obzhc2/production/c505493b33040ba4cb164dbbd8d930ef9fa9516b-4000x2667.jpg?rect=0,353,4000,1963&w=320&h=157&q=90&fit=crop)
Installation view of ‘mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson’ at the Queensland Art Gallery / View full image
When
23 Mar – 11 Aug 2024
Where
Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery 3 (Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Gallery), Gallery 4 & Watermall
Admission
Free
About
For more than four decades, Judy Watson has created powerful, ethereal works of art channelling the stories of her family’s Waanyi Country in north-west Queensland. ‘mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson’ is a comprehensive survey of the renowned Queensland artist’s incisive meditations on colonial, social and ecological concerns. It is her most extensive solo exhibition to date.
The exhibition includes 130 works, across painting, prints, sculpture, installation and video, from an artistic practice centred on truth-telling around the environment, historical government policy affecting Indigenous Australians, and institutions that collect First Nations cultural material and remains.
The title ‘mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri’, translated as ‘tomorrow the tree grows stronger’, is taken from a poem in Waanyi language by the artist’s son Otis Carmichael.
Just as a young tree grows in strength, the act of reclaiming and voicing Indigenous language encourages a regeneration of culture.
Judy Watson, Waanyi people, Australia b.1959 / walama 2000, installed in 'mudunama kundana wandaraba jarribirri: Judy Watson', Queensland Art Gallery Watermall, Brisbane 2024 / Bronze / 17 parts (height x diam.): Part A: 159 x 60cm; part B: 151 x 55cm; part C: 155 x 60cm; part D: 120 x 50cm; part E: 115 x 44cm; part F: 119 x 46cm; part G: 99 x 48cm; part H: 120 x 58cm; part I: 131 x 60cm; part J: 120 x 58cm; part K: 131 x 60cm; part L: 90 x 30cm; part M: 105 x 30cm; part N: 90 x 40cm; part O: 100 x 40cm; part P: 40 x 20cm; part Q: 35 x 20cm / Courtesy: The artist, Milani Gallery and UAP Brisbane (Meeanjin/Magandjin) / © Judy Watson / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA / View full image
Judy Watson, Waanyi people, Australia b.1959 / memory bones 2007 / Pigment and pastel on canvas / 211 x 127cm / The James C. Sourris AM Collection. Gift of James C. Sourris through the QAG Foundation 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program/ Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency / View full image
Judy Watson, Waanyi people, Australia b.1959 / grandmother's song 2007 / Pigment and pastel on canvas / 196 x 107cm / Purchased 2007 with funds from Margaret Greenidge through the QAG Foundation and the QAG Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency / View full image
Judy Watson, Waanyi people, Australia b.1959 / moreton bay rivers, australian temperature chart, freshwater mussels, net, spectrogram 2022 / Indigo dye, graphite, synthetic polymer paint, waxed linen thread and pastel on cotton / 248 x 490.5cm / Purchased with funds from the 2023 QAGOMA Foundation Appeal, Margaret Mittelheuser AM and Cathryn Mittelheuser AM / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency / View full image
Blog
QAGOMA Blog![Judy Watson, Waanyi people, Australia b.1959 / grandmother’s song 2007 / Pigment and pastel on canvas / 196 x 107cm / Purchased 2007 with funds from Margaret Greenidge through the QAG Foundation and the QAG Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/m2obzhc2/production/8892ef3098d005b26376a125759c44197d12d1f4-1170x2182.jpg?rect=0,707,1170,768&w=320&h=210&q=90&fit=crop)
Judy Watson, Waanyi people, Australia b.1959 / grandmother’s song 2007 / Pigment and pastel on canvas / 196 x 107cm / Purchased 2007 with funds from Margaret Greenidge through the QAG Foundation and the QAG Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Judy Watson/Copyright Agency / View full image
Education resources
For teachers and students looking at the artist’s practice, ideas for making and responding, and curriculum links.
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