‘Transitions’ charts the evolution of Aboriginal art from 1940s to the present — from early bark painting representations of the country’s ancestral creators and its fauna, to recent bold explorations of materials and subjects that reflect vibrant contemporary cultural and aesthetic transitions.

This feature provides essays, exhibition object lists and more, including exhibition curator Diane Moon's rich and compelling essay mapping artistic movements against regions, communities and generations, and Adam Ford's paper on the material innovations of contemporary Aboriginal artists.

‘Transitions Now: Contemporary Aboriginal Forms and Images from the Collection’ (6 AUG 2022 – 25 JUN 2023) and ‘Transitions: Historic and Contemporary Barks from the Collection 1948–2021’ (20 AUG 2022 – 10 APR 2023) are dovetailing chapters of an exhibition that offers a unique experience of contemporary Aboriginal art alongside eight decades of Australian Aboriginal bark painting.

Feature image: Gunybi Ganambarr / Ngaymil people / Australia NT b.1973 / Ngaymil (detail) 2015 / Purchased 2016 in memory of David Barnett through the QAGOMA Foundation / © Gunybi Ganambarr