Djon Mundine

Djon Mundine (born 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, activist and writer. He is a member of the Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales. He is known for having conceived the 1988 work Aboriginal Memorial, on display at the National Gallery of Art in Canberra.

Early life
Djon was born in Grafton, New South Wales in 1951. He was born 6th of 11 children to Roy Mundine and Olive Bridgette Mundine (nee Donovan). John's father Roy was a union stockman, and Olive's father had joined the first Indigenous Australian political party, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, in the 1920s. His family was very poor growing up, but he credits his father with encouraging the children to think: "I suppose you're not supposed to talk about sex and politics and religion at the table, but he'd get us to talk about whatever was in the papers." He is the elder brother of former politician Nyunggai Warren Mundine.

He is a Wehbal man from the West Bundjalung nation, from the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. He is also a descendant of the Yuin people.

Mundine spent his early life in South Grafton. He was exposed to the traditions of Aboriginal art and technique from a young age.

In 1963, his family settled in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn. Mundine went to the Marist Brothers College then called Benedict College, and went on to commence study at Macquarie University.

Art career
After deciding that college was not the right path for him, he became an art adviser at Milingimbi Art Centre as art and craft advisor at Milingimbi in the Crocodile Islands in 1979, and afterwards as curator and adviser at Bula'Bula Arts in Ramingining, in Arnhem Land, for 16 years. There he conceived of the concept for the famous Aboriginal Memorial, which is on permanent display at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Mundine is particularly well-known for his work as the concept artist and producer of the Aboriginal Memorial. This is a work of contemporary Indigenous Australian art comprising 200 decorated hollow log coffins, offered as a commemoration of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations in 1988; the log coffins represent 200 years of European occupation of Australia. Their design directly references the traditional hollow log mortuary ceremony of Central Arnhem Land,  commemorates those Indigenous Australians who died as a result of European settlement. The work was realised by 43 artists from Ramingining and neighbouring communities of Central Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, including David Malangi, George Milpurrurru, and Philip Gudthaykudthay. It was acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, where it is on permanent display. Its first exhibition was at the Sydney Biennale in 1988, and it has travelled to various galleries around the world over the years.

In 1994 he co-curated (with Fiona Foley) Tyerabowbarwarryaou — I Shall never Become a Whiteman, for the Havana Biennial and Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Tyerabowbarwarryaou was the first exhibition to exhibit contemporary Aboriginal art at the MCA. Mundine was a curator for Aratjara exhibition, which travelled to Dusseldorf, London, and Denmark, 1993–94. In 1994 Mundine and Foley worked together to co-create the Aboriginal Art: The Arnott's Collection exhibition at the MCA. The exhibition was the first public display of the Arnott's Biscuits Collection of Aboriginal Bark Paintings, which comprises 275 bark paintings donated to the MCA in June 1993 by Arnott's Biscuits. The collection features works from the 1960s through to the early 1980s by important artists from the creative hubs in and around Groote Eylandt, Yirrkala, Galiwin'ku, Milingimbi, Maningrida, Ramingining, Gunbalanya, Wadeye, and the Tiwi Islands.

The Native Born (1996, MCA), was an exhibition and publication showing ceremonial and utilitarian weaving and artistic work from Ramingining community. This led to the inclusion of artists such as Robyn Djunginy in the 1998 Sydney Biennale. They are Meditating: Bark Paintings from the Museum of Contemporary Art's Arnott Collection (2008) was another major exhibition, which consisted of over 200 objects from the Ramingining Collection. He divided the collection between six different environments in the Ramingining area : Larrtha'puy (mangroves), Diltjipuy (forests); Gulunbuy (waterholes); Retjapuy (jungles); Rangipuy(beaches); and Ninydjiyapuy (plains). Mundine honoured the intricate kinship system of Aboriginal culture by using pieces that not only depicted objects in nature, but also represented the histories and social structures of Aboriginal Australia.

In 2008, Mundine created an exhibition called Etched in the Sun. The exhibition was organised held at Drill Hall Gallery in Canberra. It consisted of several fine art prints representing years of collaboration between Aboriginal artists and fine art printers. Artwork made between 1997 and 2007 by Indigenous artists such as Judy Watson, Banduk Marika, and Jean Baptiste Apuatimi were included.

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

In 2020 Mundine won the Australia Council's Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In 2022, Mundine led "The Dabee Family Choir Mural Project." The project originated from the Jimmy and Peggy Lambert Memorial Mural in Kandos Museum. It was created to honour the lives of Jimmy and Peggy, who were survivors of the Dabee Massacre in 1823. For the exhibition, Mundine had over 60 descendants finger-paint Peggy and Jimmy's images.

Mundine has been working on the Dingo Project, an exhibition he curated for Ngununggula, which looks into the spiritual mythology and the history of the ancestral dingoes. The project also features works from artists such as Karla Dickens, Fiona Foley, and Daniel Boyd.

Mundine continues to work as an independent curator of contemporary First Nations art, and as cultural mentor for fellow First Nations artists. He has been working on Ngununggula's second Entry Pavilion Commission. The Entry Pavilion Commission is an annual initiative in celebrating Gundungurra language, culture, and history. The exhibition is set to launch on 22 October 2023 and will be open for the public until 26 November.

Practice
Mundine's curatorial work is known for an emphasis on intricacy and difference in content and style, while not compromising on the artists' cultural and political statements.

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
Along with working at the arts centres, Mundine played a significant role in the community and worked with many regional and community-based organisations across Australia. Mundine has always been dedicated to his culture and community, and joined the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) as one of its founding members in 1987. He has also held curatorial posts at several institutions, including the Art Gallery of NSW, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.

Mundine is known in the Aboriginal community for his work and beliefs. As an author, Mundine is able to express his beliefs about art and stay relevant. Mundine often uses his pieces of writing as a means to look deeper into art, past its mediums and origins.

Between 2005 and 2006 Mundine was a research professor at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) in Osaka, Japan.

In October 2023, ahead of the 2023 Australian referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Mundine spoke in support of the Yes vote on SBS Television discussion programme Insight. He had not discussed this opinion with his brother Nyunggai Warren Mundine, who is one of the leaders of the No campaign.

Honours and awards

 * 1993: Medal of the Order of Australia, "for service to the promotion and development of Aboriginal arts, crafts and culture"
 * 2005-2006: PhD candidate at National College of Art and Design
 * 2015: Level 2 winner, Indigenous Project or Keeping Place, for Bungaree’s Farm at Mosman Art Gallery, at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association MAGNA Awards
 * 2016: Best in Heritage Conference, Dubrovnik, showcased entry and finalist, Bungaree’s Farm
 * 2017: Inaugural Power Publications Award for Indigenous Art Writing, for his essay "The Aboriginal Memorial: Australia's Forgotten War".
 * 2020: Red Ochre Award - 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

Writings

 * 2008-Deacon-structing Destiny, Essay, for Clandestine [exhibition - Destiny Deacon and Virginia Fraser, Tandanya, Adelaide Arts Festival ]
 * Opening talk by Djon Mundine OAM: Twined, on Robyn Djunginy and Karen Mills
 * 2012- Shadowlife
 * 2014-Aboriginal performance art: How bizarre!, Essay, Artlink
 * 2015-The Aboriginal Memorial to Australia's forgotten war, Essay, Artlink
 * 2015- Bungaree-A Man in Space
 * 2015-Woman on the Dunes, Fiona Foley, Interview, Artlink
 * 2017-The Masque Ball of Tracey Moffatt, Australian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale, Review, Artlink
 * 2017-Lucky Country - Adam Hill aka Blak Douglas, catalogue essay, the 2017 Triennale, NGA
 * 2017-Four Women (I do belong) Double, Catalogue essay, Lismore Art Gallery, pp.6-9
 * 2018-The Road to Bentinck Island: Sally and Her Sisters – Sally and Her Daughters, The Indigenous Story Project
 * 2018-Archie Moore 1970-2018, Review, Artlink
 * 2019-Politico-Magic-Realism, Destiny Deacon, Short Essay
 * 2019-Blak Lik Mi, Blak Queensland Portraits, Cairns Art Gallery
 * 2019-Who Are These Strangers and Where Are They Going, catalogue Essay, Fiona Foley, Ballarat International Foto Bienal.