MELBOURNE.- Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA, Australia’s leading university art museum, announced its 2026 exhibition program, a year-long exploration of belief and ways of knowing. Across four major exhibitions, leading Australian and international artists will probe mysticism, ancestral traditions, ritual, mythology and collective belief systems as vital frameworks for navigating contemporary life.
Opening in February with the major group exhibition Knowing Otherwise, the program continues with the first Australian survey of London-based Indonesian Aotearoan/New Zealander artist Sriwhana Spong; a two-person exhibition of Filipino-Australian artist Justin Talplacido Shoulder and Minahasan artist Natasha Tontey; and the first major solo exhibition of the Pitcha Makin Fellas, based on Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung land (Ballarat). Each exhibition offers audiences unique encounters with the unseen, the esoteric and the deeply embodied, while reimagining knowledge, belonging and connection.
Dr Rebecca Coates, Director of MUMA, said: ‘At a time when people across the world are questioning what they believe in and how they connect, MUMA’s 2026 exhibition program explores how artists channel spiritual and ancestral traditions into creative practices of resistance, renewal, and care. These exhibitions invite audiences to reflect on the unseen forces that shape our lives—be they spiritual, cultural, or communal—and to reimagine art’s role as a means to experience, learn and share in times of uncertainty.’
Coates added, “Universities are, at their core, about ideas, new knowledge and learning. Through MUMA’s program we extend this pursuit into the cultural sphere, offering exhibitions that foster critical reflection, dialogue, and connection across diverse communities.”
Knowing Otherwise, 7 February – 2 April 2026
Curators: Stephanie Berlangieri, Amanda Haskard and Francis E. Parker
A major group exhibition foregrounding ancestral, spiritual and embodied forms of knowledge in response to eroding trust in dominant Western systems. Featuring artists including Paola Balla (Wemba Wemba, Gunditjmara), Vali Myers, Rosaleen Norton, Gail Mabo (Meriam), and Karina Utomo, the exhibition reclaims heterodox traditions—from mysticism and Indigenous storytelling to ritual and the occult—as acts of resistance and transformation.
Sriwhana Spong: HA HA HA, 24 April – 28 June 2026
Curators: Pip Wallis and Melanie Oliver
The first Australian survey of London-based Indonesian Aotearoan/New Zealander artist Sriwhana Spong, spanning two decades of practice. With new commissions alongside key works in film, sculpture, textiles and performance, the exhibition meditates on mysticism, migration and forms of belief, drawing from Balinese cosmologies, medieval female mystics and embodied ritual. This exhibition is presented in partnership with Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, Wellington and is supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.
Justin Talplacido Shoulder and Natasha Tontey, 17 July – 19 September 2026
Curators: Amanda Haskard and Pip Wallis
A dynamic two-person exhibition bringing together the phantasmagoric works of Filipino-Australian artist Justin Talplacido Shoulder and Minahasan artist Natasha Tontey. Through performance, film, and installation, both artists reimagine ancestral mythologies and speculative futures, presenting spirituality as a process of collective healing, communal storytelling and resistance across the Asia-Pacific region.
Pitcha Makin Fellas, 9 October – 5 December 2026
Curators: Amanda Haskard withthe Pitcha Makin’ Fellas
The first major solo exhibition of First Nations collective the Pitcha Makin Fellas, celebrating their legacy of humour, resistance and community connection. Known for their bold stamp paintings, breastplates, projections, and books, the Fellas’ work powerfully challenges racism, colonialism, and social injustice, while honouring Country and caring for community.
