The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

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,

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.

Credit: Overview from museum website 

Image credit: 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