Flinders University Museum of Art facts for kids
| Established | 1978 |
|---|---|
| Location | Flinders University, Sturt Rd, Social Sciences North, Bedford Park SA 5042 |
| Type | University art museums and galleries |
The Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) is an exciting art museum located in Adelaide, South Australia. It's also known as the Flinders Art Museum. This special place looks after and grows the amazing art collections of Flinders University. It has both old and new artworks for everyone to enjoy and learn from.
Contents
History of FUMA
How the Museum Started
The art museum officially began in 1978. The Flinders University Council decided to create it to hold the university's growing art collection. Even before that, since 1966, the university had been collecting art. This art helped students learn more in their fine arts classes.
Where FUMA Has Been
The collection first found a home in 1997 on Grote Street in the heart of Adelaide city centre. Later, in 2003, it moved to the State Library of South Australia on North Terrace. This location closed in June 2018. That same year, FUMA launched its online catalogue. This meant people could see many artworks from home!
FUMA's Current Home
Since 2019, FUMA has had a dedicated gallery. It's located right at the university's Bedford Park campus. This gallery shows many different art projects. These projects encourage questions and new ideas. They also help the museum work with partners from both nearby and around the world.
Special Art Collections
One unique part of FUMA is its "Post-object and Documentation" collection. This collection is one of the best in Australia. It shows how "conceptual art" was made in the 1960s and 1970s. Conceptual art is about ideas and concepts, not just the finished artwork itself.
This collection was started by Donald Brook. He was in charge of Visual Arts at Flinders from 1974. He also gave the museum artworks by a group called Optronic Kinetics. This group from Sydney in the 1970s mixed science and technology with art. They created new and sometimes funny conceptual art pieces.
What Art You Can See
FUMA's Amazing Collections
The Flinders University Museum of Art has grown a lot! It now holds more than 8,000 artworks. This makes it one of the largest university art collections in Australia.
The collection focuses on four main types of art:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art: Art made by Australia's First Peoples.
- European prints: Art created using printing techniques from Europe.
- Post-object and Documentation: Art that focuses on ideas and the process of making art.
- Australian political posters: Posters that share messages about politics and social issues in Australia.
If you want to see the university's collections, you can arrange a visit by making an appointment.
Exhibitions and Shows
Current and Past Exhibitions
FUMA often hosts special exhibitions that showcase different artworks. These shows help people learn about various art styles and artists.
One recent exhibition was:
- If you don't fight... you lose: politics, posters and PAM (May 16, 2024 – July 5, 2024): This show was put together by art historian Catherine Speck and Jude Adams. It celebrated the art of the Progressive Art Movement. This movement included artists who used their art to share messages about social change, especially feminists.
