How does Aboriginal Memorial elucidate its Exhibition and critical reception?
The creators of the Aboriginal Memorial always intended that it be publicly displayed, and in 1987 the work was offered to the National Gallery of Australia, which helped fund its completion. After being first exhibited at the Sydney Biennale in 1988, it was moved to the National Gallery, its present home. In 2000, the Memorial formed the centrepiece of a major exhibition of Australian Indigenous art held in the prestigious Nicholas Hall at the Hermitage Museum in Russia. The exhibition received a positive reception from Russian critics, one of whom wrote:
This is an exhibition of contemporary art, not in the sense that it was done recently, but in that it is cased in the mentality, technology and philosophy of radical art of the most recent times. No one, other than the Aborigines of Australia, has succeeded in exhibiting such art at the Hermitage.
Described as an icon of the National Gallery's collection, and "one of the outstanding works of art to have been created in Australia", the memorial is laid out with a central pathway between the log-coffins representing the passage of the Glyde River through central Arnhem Land. In the late 2000s, the work was included in the list of the 20 most valuable artworks in the Gallery's collection, and was the only Australian artwork to make that list. At that time, of the 20 most valuable Australian artworks in the collection, it was also the only one by Indigenous artists. Andrew Sayers, former head of Australia's National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of Australia, described the work as "among the most profound works of art to emerge from the last 20 years".In the late 2000s, the work was temporarily withdrawn from display to undergo significant conservation work. Completed in October 2009, the restoration was followed by the work's relocation in 2010 to the entrance area of the new gallery building, where it was intended to be the first work seen by visitors to the gallery. Aboriginal Memorial was relocated to level 1 of the NGA in June 2022. The gallery stated that this move placed the work in the "heart of the National Gallery, helping make the most important work in the national collection central to all visitors’ art experience".
Glyde River National Museum of Australia National Portrait Gallery Hermitage Museum National Gallery of Australia Nicholas Hall Aboriginal Arnhem Land Andrew Sayers Sydney Biennale