News
FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION | PROTECTING INDIGENOUS ART: FROM T-SHIRTS TO THE FLAG BY COLIN GOLVAN AM KC
This September sees the launch of Protecting Indigenous Art: From T-Shirts to the Flag by Colin Golvan AM KC- a personal account of how copyright protects Indigenous art, published by Melbourne University .
"There is the country non-Indigenous people can see, and then there is the country Indigenous people see that the rest of us can barely comprehend, but glimpse through the vivid colours, shapes and imagery of their artworks, and their visual recounting of ancient stories and settings..."
- Colin Golvan AM KC
Colin Golvan AM KC is a long-time member of the Victorian Bar, with extensive involvement in the arts as an author, legal adviser and counsel, as a board member and supporter of arts organisations.
VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES FIRST NATIONS NAME OF NEW MELBOURNE ARTS PRECINCT PUBLIC URBAN GARDEN
The Victorian Government has announced the First Nations name of the new, forthcoming 18,000 square metre public urban garden at the centre of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project.
Laak Boorndap is a Wurrundjeri Woi-Wurrung name bestowed by Traditional Owner, Aunty Gail Smith. This expansive public garden reflects First Peoples' long tradition of gathering by and caring for Birrarung (the Yarra river), the garden will feature a prominent waterway that people can sit near and take in the sounds of trickling water.
Construction begins 2026!
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA | EVER PRESENT: FIRST PEOPLES ART OF AUSTRALIA | UNTIL 24 AUGUST 2025
First opening in 2021 at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, before heading to National Gallery Singapore, Singapore and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand, Ever Present: First: Peoples Art of Australia concludes its monumental tour at the National Art Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Ever Present includes over 260 works from more than 200 artists, from the National Collection and the Wesfarmers Collection together underlining the ever-present existence of our First Peoples. View the exhibition now at the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra until 24 August 2025.
NOW SHOWING | ASIA SOCIETY, NEW YORK MAḎAYIN: EIGHT DECADES OF ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN BARK PAINTING FROM YIRRKALA | UNTIL 5 JANUARY 2025
Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala culminates its tour of North America at New York's Asia Society until 5 January 2025. This exhibition is a watershed moment in global art history, sharing with the American public a history of Aboriginal Australian bark painting curated by Yolŋu knowledge holders from Arnhem Land in Northern Australia.
NGV ANNOUNCES MAJOR TOURING EXHIBITION | THE STARS WE DO NOT SEE: AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS ART
This month the National Gallery of Victoria announced The Stars We do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art - the largest exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ever presented internationally. Featuring the undisputed masterpieces from the NGV Collection, the exhibition features over 200 works by more than 130 artists, including many that have never-before left the country.
Following its global premiere on 18 October 2025 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, The Stars We Do Not See will tour to venues in North America, including Denver Art Museum, Colorado; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts; and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
