Djon Mundine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Djon Mundine OAM
Born	John Mundine 1951 Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Awards	Red Ochre Award

Djon Mundine OAM (born in 1951) is an important Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, and writer. He is also an activist who works for his community. He belongs to the Bundjalung people from northern New South Wales. He is famous for creating the idea for the Aboriginal Memorial in 1988. This special artwork is now at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Djon Mundine's Early Life

Djon Mundine was born in Grafton, New South Wales, in 1951. He was one of 11 children born to Roy and Olive Mundine. His family moved to Auburn in western Sydney in 1963.

Djon went to the Catholic Benedict Marist Brothers College. He later started studying at Macquarie University.

Djon Mundine's Art Career

Djon decided that university was not the right path for him. In 1979, he became an art adviser at the Milingimbi Art Centre. He then worked as a curator and adviser at Bula'Bula Arts in Ramingining for 16 years. It was there that he came up with the idea for the famous Aboriginal Memorial. This artwork is now always on display at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Arafura Swamp Ramingining is a painting from the area where Djon Mundine worked.

The Aboriginal Memorial

Djon Mundine is especially known for creating the idea for the Aboriginal Memorial. This artwork is made up of 200 decorated hollow log coffins. It was created to remember the 200 years of European settlement in Australia in 1988. The log coffins look like traditional hollow logs used in special ceremonies in Central Arnhem Land. They honor the Indigenous Australians who died because of European settlement.

Forty-three artists from Ramingining and nearby communities helped create the artwork. These artists included David Malangi and George Milpurrurru. The National Gallery of Australia bought the artwork, and it is now a permanent display. It was first shown at the Sydney Biennale in 1988. Since then, it has traveled to many galleries around the world.

Curating Exhibitions

In 1994, Djon Mundine helped organize an exhibition called Tyerabowbarwarryaou — I Shall never Become a Whiteman. He worked with Fiona Foley on this project. It was shown at the Havana Biennial and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney. This was the first time contemporary Aboriginal art was shown at the MCA.

Mundine also helped curate the Aratjara exhibition. This exhibition traveled to Dusseldorf, London, and Denmark from 1993 to 1994. In 1994, Mundine and Foley also created the Aboriginal Art: The Arnott's Collection exhibition. This was the first public display of the Arnott's Biscuits Collection. This collection has 275 bark paintings given to the MCA in 1993. The collection includes works from the 1960s to the early 1980s. These works are by important artists from places like Groote Eylandt and Yirrkala.

The Native Born (1996, MCA) was an exhibition that showed weaving and art from the Ramingining community. This exhibition helped artists like Robyn Djunginy be included in the 1998 Sydney Biennale. Another big exhibition was They are Meditating: Bark Paintings from the Museum of Contemporary Art's Arnott Collection (2008). It had over 200 objects from the Ramingining Collection.

Mundine divided the collection into six environments from the Ramingining area. These included mangroves, forests, and waterholes. He used art that showed nature and also the histories of Aboriginal Australia. This honored the complex kinship system of Aboriginal culture.

In 2008, Mundine created an exhibition called Etched in the Sun. It was held at the Drill Hall Gallery in Canberra. The exhibition showed many fine art prints. These prints were made between 1997 and 2007 by Indigenous artists. Artists like Judy Watson and Banduk Marika were included.

Another exhibition he curated in 2008 was Ngadhu, ngulili, ngeaninyagu: a personal history of Aboriginal art in the Premier State. It was held at the Campbelltown Arts Centre. It featured works from artists like Brooke Andrew and Bronwyn Bancroft.

In 2020, Djon Mundine won the Australia Council's Red Ochre Award. This award is for lifetime achievement in the arts.

In 2022, Mundine led "The Dabee Family Choir Mural Project." This project honored Jimmy and Peggy Lambert. They were survivors of an event in 1823. For the exhibition, Mundine had over 60 of their descendants finger-paint their images.

Mundine has also been working on the Dingo Project. This exhibition looks into the spiritual stories and history of ancestral dingoes. It features works from artists like Karla Dickens and Fiona Foley.

As of 2023, Mundine continues to work as an independent curator. He helps promote contemporary First Nations art. He also mentors other First Nations artists. He has been working on Ngununggula's second Entry Pavilion Commission. This project celebrates Gundungurra language, culture, and history.

Djon Mundine's Approach to Art

Mundine's work as a curator focuses on showing the detailed and different styles in art. He makes sure that artists' cultural and political messages are clear. He has written on his website: "Art is a cultural expression; a history of a people; a statement through a series of life experiences of self-definition; a recounting of an untold story; the bringing to light of a truth of history—a statement possibly unable to be made in any other way."

Other Activities

Besides working at art centers, Djon Mundine has played a big role in his community. He has worked with many local and national organizations across Australia. Mundine has always been dedicated to his culture and community. He was one of the first members of the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) in 1987. He has also worked as a curator at places like the Art Gallery of NSW and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Mundine is well-known in the Aboriginal community for his work and beliefs. As a writer, he shares his ideas about art. He often uses his writing to look deeper into art, beyond just how it was made.

From 2005 to 2006, Mundine was a research professor in Japan. He worked at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka.

In October 2023, Djon Mundine spoke on SBS Television about the 2023 Australian referendum for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. He supported the 'Yes' vote.

Honours and Awards

• 1993: Medal of the Order of Australia, for his work in promoting Aboriginal arts, crafts, and culture.
• 2015: Won an award for Bungaree’s Farm at Mosman Art Gallery. This was at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association MAGNA Awards.
• 2017: Won the first Power Publications Award for Indigenous Art Writing. This was for his essay "The Aboriginal Memorial: Australia's Forgotten War".
• 2020: Red Ochre Award from the Australia Council for the Arts.

Other Roles

• 2020  Patron, King & Wood Mallesons Contemporary First Nation Art Award
• 2018  Patron: King & Wood Mallesons Contemporary First Nation Art Prize
• 2018  Judge: Woollahra Small Sculpture Award
• 2007  Judge: Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
• 2000  Judge: The Art of Place: The 5th National Indigenous Heritage Art Awards, Australian Heritage Commission
• 1993  Curator: Bayside Council First Nations Art Competition
• 1988  Judge: Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
• 1985-87  Aboriginal Art Adviser, Artbank
• 1996  Judge: Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award

Djon Mundine's Writings

• 2008: Deacon-structing Destiny, an essay for an exhibition.
• 2012: Shadowlife, a publication.
• 2014: Aboriginal performance art: How bizarre!, an essay for Artlink.
• 2015: The Aboriginal Memorial to Australia's forgotten war, an essay for Artlink.
• 2015: Bungaree-A Man in Space, an essay for an exhibition.
• 2015: Woman on the Dunes, an interview with Fiona Foley for Artlink.
• 2017: The Masque Ball of Tracey Moffatt, a review for Artlink.
• 2017: Lucky Country - Adam Hill aka Blak Douglas, a catalogue essay.
• 2017: Four Women (I do belong) Double, a catalogue essay.
• 2018: The Road to Bentinck Island: Sally and Her Sisters – Sally and Her Daughters.
• 2018: Archie Moore 1970-2018, a review for Artlink.
• 2019: Politico-Magic-Realism, Destiny Deacon, a short essay.
• 2019: Blak Lik Mi, for the Blak Queensland Portraits exhibition.
• 2019: Who Are These Strangers and Where Are They Going, a catalogue essay for Fiona Foley.

Exhibitions Curated by Djon Mundine

Boards, Committees, and Associations