Djon Mundine

I saw the sun
I sang my song
I danced my dance
I saw my shadow
I saw my soul
I made my mark!

Historically, Aboriginal people across the continent, whether intentional or casual, could identify the presence of another named person from their indexical mark; footprint, handprint, bum print or body print. It was the first art, and marked this site as my land. This idea was behind my performance I saw the Sun, in 2004, under the Story Bridge in Brisbane, in which I stripped down and danced as the rising sun left my mark as a shadow (the ancestral spirit) on the river’s muddy shore. Made into a video, it was included in two exhibitions in Brisbane in 2004 and 2005.

Narrative + Painting

Reconciling the seven stages of Archie Moore's grieving

3 Jun 2024

The Artlink Archive Project: Tracking Indigenous voices INDIGENOUS__

Karla Dickens: A Dickensian Sideshow

8 Feb 2021

The five phases of Aboriginal art

Stirring

The Hidden Garden: Travis de Vries

3 Jul 2019

Archie Moore: 1970–2018

20 Apr 2018

The Masque Ball of Tracey Moffatt

One of Tracey Moffatt’s lasting cinematographic memories, as she told me, is of films with harbour scenes, of working ports, rough workmen, the coming and going of exotic people, fogs, and foghorns. Tracey Moffatt’s photographic and film work commissioned for the Australian Pavilion in Venice responds to this landscape of cinematic time.

Indigenous_Trans Cultural

Maria Fernanda Cardoso: Mestizaje Indigenous Global

Lindy Lee: Asia link Indigenous Global

Jenny Fraser: The cyberTribe odyssey Indigenous Global

Fiona Foley: Woman on the Dunes Indigenous Global

Catherine Croll: Picanniny’s pool is down the road Indigenous Global

I’m not sure that I exist (after Borges)

Editorial essay

Indigenous Global

The Aboriginal Memorial to Australia’s forgotten war Art & War: Badlands

Aboriginal performance art: How bizarre! Indigenous: Blackground

Ich Bin Ein Aratjara: 20 years later

Aboriginal super-curator Djon Mundine, who travelled to Europe in 1994 as touring curator with the significant exhibition Aratjara: art of the first Australians, looks back at the genesis and reception of that exhibition. He asks where is the political impetus evident in Aratjara today and where is the Aboriginal input into the development of national survey exhibitions.

Indigenous: Re-visions

The Ballad of Jimmy Governor

Emeritus Indigenous curator Djon Mundine wrote this essay on the occasion of a production of Posts in the Paddock a play about Jimmy Governor by the company My Darling Patricia. The performance included members of the both families involved. Mundine addresses questions of familial and national forgiveness.

Indigenous: Indignation

Three secrets Art & Surveillance

Is it Sacred? The Collarenebri Files

Senior curator Djon Mundine reflects on his experiences in the past of consultation with Aboriginal people about artefacts, in particular carved trees in NSW that he wanted to include in 'Spirit and Place' at the MCA in 1997.

Stirring II

Nowhere Boy

Emeritus Curator Djon Mundine OAM, currently Indigenous Curator of Contemporary Art at Campbelltown Arts Centre, Western Sydney, spills his guts on the current state of play as he sees it in Australian Aboriginal art where fashion has overtaken activism and some artists are just so hot right now.

Blak on Blak

The Ramingining Megaphone

Distinguished pioneer Indigenous Curator, activist and writer, Curator of Contemporary Art at Campbelltown Arts Centre Djon Mundine tells a very funny and intriguing story about how modern communication technology came to Ramingining and how it intersected with 'community consultation' by government departments.

Changing Climates in Arts Publishing

Keep your eyes on the prize: Hold on, Aboriginal art competitions, ethical dilemmas and mining companies

In this article Djon Mundine poses a prolific and detailed insight into the world of art in relation to what art is, how can it be judged and as a re-occurring theme, the alleged honesty in contemporary art. Mundine predominately focuses on Aboriginal art and the political, ethical and criterial implications modern society imposes on it. That is to say what can be deemed an honest work of art that expresses the artists intentions but also allows the artwork to speak for itself. Mundine talks about indigenous artwork and how it was viewed by the original colinisers of Australia. Particularly how the colinisers set down criteria towards what a valuable artwork was. Further elaborating on competitions whereby artworks are judged in accordance to rules that pose more questions in relation to what an honest or pure artwork is. Mundine cites several quotations that portray interesting examples that reinforce his argument towards modern day criticism and objectivity. The final message being to what extent can any one person be declared appropriated to criticising artwork and judging its authenticity, quality and honesty. Mundine states that we should only hope for honesty in today's artwork irrespective of its outside marketed criticism. All in all Mundine presents the reader with an insightful article that will leave you questioning the integrity of today's critical approach to fine art.

Time

The Other APT

Raw Space Galleries
99 Melbourne St, South Brisbane
28 November 2006 - 23 January 2007

The Word As Art

White face: Blak mask Stirring

Art Co-ordinator: No ordinary job

Howard Morphy interviews Djon Mundine at Ramingining in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art

The food chain starts here: Larrtha’puy, from the mangroves

Culture/Agriculture

A memorial for the dead: Commemorating 200 years of loss

In 1988 the artists of Ramingining, a remote Central Arnhem Land community, were responsible for perhaps the most-moving political statement made during Australia’s bicentenary year. Djon Mundine tells UK-based anthropologist Howard Morphy, how this extraordinary monument came to be made.

Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art

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