Monash University Museum of Art will next month debut the landmark Indigenous exhibition Awakening Histories, exploring the deep connections between the First Nations Peoples of Northern Australia and the Makassan seafarers of South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The exhibition brings together 27 artists and collectives from Australia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines, including seven new commissions, alongside significant works from national and international collections.
MUMA Director, Dr Rebecca Coates, said the exhibition honours a shared history of migration, trade and cultural exchange that spans more than a millennium.
"Foregrounding Indigenous sovereignty and ocean-centred storytelling, Awakening Histories offers a powerful counter-narrative to Eurocentric notions of 'discovery' and colonisation," Dr Coates said.
"This exhibition reveals a powerful truth; that First Nations Peoples have long histories of connection and exchange across the seas, challenging colonial versions of Australia's past."
Developed in collaboration with a group of nine researchers and curators from across Australia and Indonesia, Awakening Histories extends the ground-breaking work of the Australian Research Council Laureate project Global Encounters and First Nations Peoples: 1000 Years of Australian History led by Professor Lynette Russell AM.
Dr Coates said previous exhibitions on the Makassan subject have foregrounded Australian First Nations perspectives, given the strength and proclivity of artmaking around this subject.
"This is the first exhibition to look at Makassan exchange from equal perspectives; looking out, and looking in," Dr Coates said.
"This is one of the learnings or aspects of the Global Encounters research that we have developed the exhibition around."
Professor Russell said the exhibition reclaims these shared histories and invites attendees to reflect on their significance through the voices of contemporary artists.
"By foregrounding First Nations perspectives alongside those from South Sulawesi and beyond, Awakening Histories challenges colonial narratives and amplifies the deep cultural and diplomatic ties that existed across the Arafura Sea long before European contact," Professor Russell said.
"This exhibition is a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness; past, present and future."
