Exhibitions opening

Big Smart

12 April 2025 - 8 June 2025

Curator: Nicholas Currie (Mulunjali and Kuku Yalanji)

Artists: Ari Mills (Kuku Yalanji Bama and Murrinh Patha), Arkie Barton (Kalkadungu and Bidjara), Dale Collier/Daisy (Wiradjuri and Dharug), Elana Currie (Yugambeh and Kuku Yalanji), E Salmon (Nyikina), Peta Duncan (Meriam), Ricky Baldwin (Gunai/Kurnai), Tarsha Davis (Kuku Yalanji and palawa), and Tristen Harwood (Ngalakgan).

We are pleased to invite you to the opening night of our latest exhibition on Friday, 11 April from 6-8pm.

Big Smart is a group exhibition curated by Nicholas Currie (Mulunjali, Kuku Yalanji) and explores the diverse modes of pedagogy within, and from the understandings of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The exhibition highlights the ways in which education intersects with artistic practice, particularly from First Nations perspectives and underscores how Indigenous ways of knowing cultivate agency, resilience, and creative expression.

This exhibition highlights the ways in which education—formal, informal, and intergenerational—intersects with artistic practice, particularly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. Bringing together a dynamic group of artists at different stages of their careers, the exhibition reflects the vital role of learning within community and family, showcasing how knowledge is shared, inherited, and expanded upon through artistic expression, and particularly beyond the institutional classroom.

Order of proceedings

6:00 pm	Exhibition viewing and light refreshments served in Boadle Hall
6:30 pm	Speeches commence in Boadle Hall Welcome to Country and exhibition opening speeches
7:30 pm	Last refreshments served
8:00 pm	Gallery closes for evening

Image credit: Nicholas Currie, to grow is to learn, 2024, acrylic and inkjet photo on canvas.