Tony Albert: Not a Souvenir
Tony Albert: Not a Souvenir showcases the artist’s work across sculpture, photography, installation, painting and assemblage, alongside significant new commissions. The exhibition is inspired by the Museum of Contemporary Art’s location on Sydney Harbour at Tallawoladah and the nearby Rocks precinct, a place of early colonial contact that is now a symbol of tourism and souvenir culture. Through these works, Albert explores the historical and ongoing commodification and misrepresentation of Aboriginal people and culture, while celebrating resilience, survival, and cultural pride. Guest curated by First Nations curator Bruce Johnson McLean (Wierdi people), in close collaboration with Tony Albert (Girramay, Yidinji, and Kuku Yalanji peoples), the exhibition provides a bold, reflective, and immersive experience with contemporary Aboriginal art, showing how histories of oppression intersect with creativity, identity, and reclamation in ways that are powerful and thought-provoking. May 21 to October 19.
Image credit: Tony Albert, David C Collins, Renisha Ward-Yates and Brittany Malbunka Reid, Warakurna Superheroes #9, 2017, Courtesy of the artists and Sullivan+Strumpf
