The Potter Museum of Art, the flagship art museum of the University of Melbourne, reopens today with the landmark exhibition, 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art.
Coinciding with National Reconciliation Week, 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art celebrates the significance and brilliance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art created from time immemorial, Australia's colonial history and beyond and into the 21st Century.
The exhibition is curated by Associate Provost and Distinguished Professor Marcia Langton AO, Senior Curator Judith Ryan AM and Associate Curator Shanysa McConvile, in consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and custodians of art tradition.
Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne. Photography by Christian Capurro.
The exhibition features 400 works of art and 50 documents, including rarely seen artworks and cultural objects from the University of Melbourne's collections, alongside 193 loans from 77 public and private lenders.
The exhibition also features six new commissions by leading contemporary Indigenous artists including Sandra Aitken, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Julie Gough, Brett Leavy, Betty Muffler and Maringka Burton and Vicki West.
Professor Langton said: "The ironic title of this exhibition refers to the belated and reluctant acceptance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art into the fine art canon by Australian curators, collectors, art critics and historians in the last quarter of the 20thcentury.
"65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art celebrates Indigenous art as it is increasingly recognised in galleries and collections around the world – as the greatest single revolution in Australian art."
Installation view of 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne, 2025. Photography by Christian Capurro.
Ms Ryan said: "This exhibition bears testament to 65,000 years of cultural knowledge. It encompasses an extraordinary range of artists and works of art that together serve as a conceptual map, illustrating our contested shared history and introducing us to some of the Indigenous architects of change.
Ms McConville said: '65,000 Years reveals key moments and turning points in the history of Indigenous art in Australia, it explores diverse art traditions across language groups and regions and art forms that emerged post-invasion, replete with resistance and innovation."
Installation view of 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne, 2025. Photography by Christian Capurro.
The Museum has undergone extensive redevelopment and features an impressive new entrance on the University's campus, along with new and improved spaces for the Museum's leading collection-based learning programs made possible by the generous support of The Ian Potter Foundation and Lady Primrose Potter AC.
Chairman of the Potter Museum of Art Mr Peter Jopling AM KC said: "The Potter Museum of Art was established in 1972 at the University of Melbourne, and for over 50 years it has played a significant role in the cultural life of Melbourne, exhibiting contemporary art alongside the University's collections. We are delighted to welcome visitors back into our revitalised museum and to chart a new, bold, and thought-provoking environment for visitors to interact with and enjoy and explore art."
More details on the Potter Museum of Art here.
