JOPLIN – “Memory/ Place: Reflections on Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art” a special exhibition of mixed media objects, will open Wednesday, Aug. 7, and run through Friday, Aug. 23, in Wednesday, August 7th, through Friday, August 23rd, in the Spiva Art Gallery at Missouri Southern State University.
In March of 2019, the MSSU International Art Seminar class traveled to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, to study contemporary Australian Aboriginal art. This exhibit features artwork created in response to their discoveries.
Contemporary Aboriginal Australians are advancing the oldest continuous artist tradition in the world. Much of their artwork (historic and contemporary) is about organizing and sharing collective memories marking and reflecting on important sites, and bearing witness to the struggles during and following British colonization.
The artists featured in the exhibit – Pheobe Burke, Rachael Gopalakrishnan, Travey Graves, Lydia Humphreys, Kyle McKenzie, Jamie Robinson, and Grace Sitton – have reflected on these traditions in various ways. The exhibition is centered around an approach inspired by much of the indigenous artwork in collections in Sydney and Melbourne, using art for organizing memories and reflecting on places.
An opening reception will be offered from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public. Summer hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Starting Monday, Aug. 12, the gallery will be open Monday through Friday.
