An innovative Aboriginal arts project staged in a former World War II naval fuel tank has earned Mosman Art Gallery the top award at the prestigious ‘2015 Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNA)’.
Beginning in 2011, The Museums & Galleries National Awards recognise excellent work nationally in the categories of exhibition, public programs and sustainability projects. This national award represents the highest honour given to a Museum or Gallery in Australia from industry peers. The gallery was also a winner in the Indigenous Project category.
Bungaree’s Farm was commissioned to mark the 200th anniversary of Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s allocation of land at Georges Heights, Mosman to Bungaree and his clan. This was the first land grant by colonial authorities to an Aboriginal person in Australia.
Led by Djon Mundine, a group of emerging and established Indigenous artists developed work inspired by the life and story of Bungaree, who was an important Aboriginal figure in early colonial Sydney and central to Mosman’s Indigenous heritage. The artists acknowledged Bungaree’s life while addressing the continuing dilemma of living between cultures and conflicting worldviews. Bungaree’s story was critically examined from an Indigenous perspective and in the context of contemporary Australian visual arts.
The site-specific exhibition was held in the T5 Camouflage Fuel Tank at Headland Park, Georges Heights – the first time the tank had been used for cultural purposes – on land believed to be part of the original grant to Bungaree’s Farm.
Gallery Director John Cheeseman said it had been a transformative project for the Gallery. “This award gives recognition to a powerful and complex series of works which we trust will provide a lasting legacy in influencing and extending contemporary Aboriginal arts practices in Australia,” he said. “We are honoured to be given this award and I am humbled to receive it on behalf of the curator, Djon Mundine, as well as the project’s artists, supporters and gallery staff.”
Mosman Art Gallery partnered with local, state and federal organisations and groups, including Mosman Reconciliation, Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, National Parks and Wildlife Services and Arts NSW to produce the exhibition.
Bungaree’s Farm will feature in July at the 2015 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and is currently being sought by other national galleries and cultural institutions. Mosman Art Gallery is presently in discussion with institutions in both China and Japan regarding future exhibitions of the works.
Top: Bungaree’s Farm, 2015, Bjorn Stewart.
Bottom: Bungaree’s Farm, 2015, Leah Flanagan and Leanne Tobin.
