A Murriality is the first major survey of the work of Waanyi artist Gordon Hookey, charting three decades of his art and activism. Encompassing large-scale paintings and sculptures, printmaking and video, it presents perspectives on historical and contemporary issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—including legal injustices, international conflict, cultural representation, and language—through Hookey’s lived experience as a Murri person. Co-curator José Da Silva says, ‘his works exemplify the idea of change, showing us possibilities for civic resistance’.

The exhibition features a major new commission of eight freestanding banner paintings, set up on traffic cones with wheels. Recalling political banners Hookey made in 2021 for public rallies, they are a timely socio-political commentary on contemporary concerns and imagine an empowered Indigenous future.

Currently on its sixth and final stop on a national tour that began in 2022, A Murriality is on show at the University of Tasmania’s Plimsoll Gallery until 11 August.

A Murriality is a partnership between Institute of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane, and UNSW Galleries, Gadigal/Sydney, presented with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts, Gordon Darling Foundation, IMA Commissioners Circle, and UNSW Commissioners Circle. Its national tour has been supported by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia and by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

Touring Venues

Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart, 8 June–11 August 2025
South East Centre for Contemporary Art, Bega, 28 September–13 November 2024
Dr David Harvey-Sutton Gallery, Cloncurry, 18 March–16 July 2024
Harvey Bay Regional Gallery, 9 June–20 August 2023
Caboolture Regional Gallery, 11 March–29 April 2023