A rare bark painting by the Kimberly artist Alec Mingelmanganu has been acquired by the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) with the funding assistance of the National Cultural Heritage Account.
This important work, which captures the monumental nature of rock paintings through its bark medium, depicts the powerful Wanjina creator spirit. Wanjina was and continues to be a fundamental inspirational force in the lives of the Worrorra, Wunambul, Ngarinyin and neighbouring language groups in the northern, western and central Kimberley.
With only one other large bark painting by Mingelmanganu held in an Australian public collection, this painting is an important addition to QAGOMA's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Collection, introducing a major work by an eminent artist of the East Kimberly School.
The work is being displayed in QAGOMA's Transitions exhibition which opened in August 2022 and runs until June 2023. The exhibition focuses on the evolution of Indigenous art forms, showcasing QAGOMA's collection of early bark paintings gifted from the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land.
