In ‘Travellers’, the metaphysical aspects of travel are explored in works by Jeffrey Smart, Jan Senbergs, Hiroaki Takahashi, Craig Koomeeta and others. The idea of the journey raises questions about freedom and physical limitation, the fluidity of identity, the passage of time, and the experience of passing through different spaces and ways of living.

Travel can capture the imagination, liberating us from the confines of the familiar. Equipped with an adventurous spirit, the traveller’s curiosity and boldness can be rewarded with a deeper connection to and experience of the world.

Not all travel is undertaken for pleasure, and for many it is a last resort. These travellers are labelled as refugees, drifters and aliens. Viewed with suspicion, people crossing borders are often miscast as illegal or fugitives instead of as causalities seeking safety.

‘Travellers’ explores the motives, ramifications and conditions of journeys. Drawn from the QAGOMA Collection, the exhibition includes works by Aboriginal, Australian and international artists and ranges in subject from discovery, exile, and pilgrimage to imagination, trade and exchange.

In a modern world faced with constant economic, social and technological change, it seems we live on a shrinking planet, yet isolation and marginalisation abounds. By exploring and learning more of others, near and far, a traveller might come to know themselves better.

‘Travellers’ was held in QAG’s Gallery 14 from 1 July to 29 October 2017.

Feature image: Jeffrey Smart / Italy Australia SA/NSW 1921–2013 / The traveller 1973 / Purchased 1975 with the assistance of an Australian Government Grant through the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council / © QAGOMA