Djon Mundine OAM, a Bandjalung man, is a curator, writer, artist and activist. Between 1979 and 1995 he was the art adviser at Milingimbi and Ramingining in the Northern Territory. Together with Ramingining artists he conceived the Aboriginal Memorial, which has been on virtually continuous display at the National Gallery of Australia since 1988. Mundine has held curatorial positions in many national and international institutions, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and the Queensland Art Gallery. In 2005-2006 he was research professor at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) in Osaka, Japan. His major exhibitions include Tyerabowbarwarryaou — I Shall never Become a Whiteman (with Fiona Foley, 1994) for the Havana Biennale and the Museum of Contemporary Art; The Native Born (1996) at the Museum of Contemporary Art; They are Meditating: Bark Paintings from the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Arnott’s Collection (2008); and the touring exhibition Bungaree: The first Australian (2015-2016). Mundine now works as an independent curator and writer.
Michael Riley, Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi photographer, film-maker and video-artist, was one of Australia’s groundbreaking, most influential urban Aboriginal artists of the 1980s and 1990s.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2013
© Michael Riley/Copyright Agency, 2021
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Linda Burney, Brenda Croft and Darrell Sibosado share memories of Michael Riley and his photographic practice.
Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.
