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Monday, April 20, 2026 |
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| Senior Kimberley artists make powerful Australian debut at PICA |
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Revealed: New & Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists 2025 (installation view), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). Photo: Rebecca Mansell.
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PERTH.- Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts opened its Season 2 program this April with the Australian debut of All That Country Holds, a major exhibition bringing together 10 senior artists from across the Kimberley in a powerful homecoming presentation.
Running from 18 April - 14 June 2026, PICAs Season 2 program centres the power of First Nations art and storytelling through All That Country Holds, alongside the return of the Revealed: New and Emerging WA Aboriginal Artists exhibition presented at PICA under the custodianship of the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of WA (AACHWA). Jointly, these exhibitions showcase the work of over 100 Aboriginal artists from across Western Australia,
The Australian debut of All That Country Holds follows the exhibitions world premiere in Washington, D.C. in late 2025. Arriving at PICA in April, the works are now being presented publicly in Australia for the first time, offering local audiences and the artists communities the opportunity to experience these remarkable works on home soil.
Curated by Noongar woman Zali Morgan, with curatorial and cultural guidance from Lynley Nargoodah and Dora Griffiths, and presented by Kimberley Aboriginal Art and Culture (KAAC), All That Country Holds features 42 artworks of various media that reflect the richness and diversity of six Kimberley art centres. Deeply connected to the Country on which the artists have lived and worked, the exhibition brings together new works shaped by experience, memory and enduring connection to place.
Developed through an initiative designed to support artists to expand their practice and explore new creative capabilities, the exhibition includes works by Ben Galmirri Ward, Angelina Boona Karadada, Mervyn Street, Evelyn Malgil, Jan Gunjaka Griffiths, Miriam Baadjo, Leah Umbagai, Marylou Orliyarli Divili, Pauline Sunfly and John Prince Siddon.
PICA CEO Hannah Mathews said presenting All That Country Holds alongside REVEALED in Season 2 offers audiences an opportunity to witness the powerful innovation and intergenerational continuity that is taking place in First Nations artistic practice in Western Australia.
Bringing All That Country Holds together with REVEALED at PICA creates a powerful dialogue between emerging and established First Nations artists, tracing not only the strength of contemporary practice in Western Australia, but the pathways that make artistic growth possible. This season is also shaped by the generous support of the Ungar Family Foundation, our inaugural Season Patron. Their commitment to fostering creativity, cultural understanding and meaningful community impact echoes the very principles that underpin these exhibitions.
Artists like Mary-Lou Orliyarli Divilli embody that journey, having previously exhibited as an emerging artist in REVEALED and now returning to PICA as an established artist featured in All That Country Holds. Her inclusion is a reminder of why sustained investment in artist development, mentorship and opportunity matters, and of the extraordinary outcomes that can emerge when artists are supported to expand their practice over time, said Mathews.
Exhibition Curator, Zali Morgan said All That Country Holds is grounded in stories of labour, memory, survival and sovereignty, as the exhibition reflects the interconnected nature of life on Country.
All That Country Holds is a powerful exhibition exploring the Kimberley Country through each artist's perspective. For many, their knowledge of place has been shaped by years spent working as stockmen and cattle workers, moving across and caring for land in ways that inform a distinctly lived visual language. These are stories carried through experience and now shared through their art, said Morgan.
Together with the REVEALED exhibition, PICAs Season 2 program is set to become Western Australias most significant presentations of contemporary First Nations art this year, with more than 200 works from over 100 artists, bringing emerging voices into dialogue with senior Kimberley artists and Elders.
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