Current Exhibition
The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art
Details
Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art—the largest ever shown outside Australia.
Australian Indigenous art is a visual thread connecting more than 250 nations across 65,000 years. Explore its breadth and brilliance through nearly 200 works from the late 1800s to today.
You’ll find ochre paintings made on bark, maps of the Central and Western deserts (so-called “dot paintings”), groundbreaking works in neon, video, and photography, and more. And you’ll meet iconic artists who maintain and reinvigorate Ancestral traditions—revealing the rich, living history of creativity behind the world’s longest continuous culture.
Drawn exclusively from the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, The Stars We Do Not See features many masterpieces that have never left Australia—until now. We’re honored to debut this landmark North American tour.
Events
Organization
The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the National Gallery of Victoria, in association with the Denver Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum, and the Peabody Essex Museum.
The exhibition is curated by Myles-Russell-Cook, former senior curator of Australian and First Nations art, National Gallery of Victoria and current artistic director & CEO of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art with the coordinating curatorial support of Michael Gentle, Sophie Gerhard, and Sophie Prince. At the National Gallery of Art, the exhibition is coordinated by Lynn Matheny, deputy head of interpretation and curator of special projects and by E. Carmen Ramos, chief curatorial and conservation officer, with additional curatorial input from Dakota Hoska, curator of Native American and Global Indigenous Art.
Other venues
Denver Art Museum, Colorado, April 19–July 26, 2026
Portland Art Museum, Oregon, September 5, 2026–January 3, 2027
Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, February 28–June 13, 2027
Sponsors
Bank of America is the North America Tour Sponsor for the exhibition.
Major support has also been provided by the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation.
Banner image: Tiger Palpatja (Pitjantjatjara), Wati Wanampi Tjukurpa, 2010, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Purchased in memory of Graeme Marshall with funds donated by Harriet and Richard England and Anne and Ian McLean, 2011 ©️ Tiger Palpatja/Copyright Agency, 2024. Photo: Jeremy Dillon / NGV
