In a historic moment for Australian art, Indigenous artist Archie Moore's groundbreaking exhibition 'kith and kin' has arrived at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), where it will remain on display until October 2026. The installation made international headlines in April 2024 when it won the prestigious Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the Venice Biennale—a first for Australia at the world's most prestigious art event.
The exhibition, curated by QAGOMA's Ellie Buttrose, represents far more than artistic achievement. Spanning five-metre-high, 60-metre-long black walls, the hand-drawn genealogical chart traces Moore's Kamilaroi, Bigambul, British, and Scottish heritage back an astonishing 65,000 years, covering more than 2,400 generations.
The work's scale and ambition make a powerful statement about Australia's Indigenous peoples being among the world's longest-continuous living cultures. The use of black walls is deliberately designed to resemble a celestial map, nodding to the resting place of First Nations ancestors. At the centre of the installation sits a reflective pool, above which hover more than 500 document stacks—primarily from coronial inquests into deaths in custody.
"Both a personal and a political work," the exhibition uses chalk on blackboard to chronicle not just family history but the broader story of colonisation's impact on Indigenous communities. The fragility of the chalk medium speaks to the vulnerability of cultural knowledge that cannot be passed down when languages and dialects are lost.
In a remarkable gesture, the artwork has been gifted to QAGOMA permanently, ensuring that future generations of Queenslanders and visitors from around the world can experience this profound meditation on heritage, identity, and justice. The exhibition stands as a testament to Moore's extraordinary vision and Brisbane's position as a major cultural capital.