Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples are advised that this document mentions names of deceased people.
Join us for a day of music and performances to celebrate the opening of Mapa Wiya (Your Map’s Not Needed): Australian Aboriginal Art from the Fondation Opale.
Schedule of events
11 a.m.
Front Lawn
Stanley Gawurra Gaykamangu will kick off the day’s festivities with a musical performance.
12 p.m.
The Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas will perform a variety of dances from regional powwow celebrations.
All events are free and open to everyone.
Participating food trucks
Bowled Up
Foreign Policy
Mooseum Ice Cream
Soulcat Cuisine
Vegan Ice Cream
About the exhibition
The Menil is pleased to present Mapa Wiya (Your Map’s Not Needed): Australian Aboriginal Art from the Fondation Opale. Meaning “no map” in the Pitjantjatjara language of the Central Australian desert region, the exhibition title is drawn from a recent drawing by artist Kunmanara (Mumu Mike) Williams (1952–2019), the first showing of his work in an American art museum. His recuperation of official government maps and postal bags is a pointed response to the foreign cartographies of the country that Australian Aboriginal peoples embody.
Reflecting on the long history of art making and different ways of Aboriginal peoples, Mapa Wiya highlights work created after the 1950s and includes more than 100 contemporary paintings, shields, hollow log coffins (larrakitj or lorrkkon), and engraved mother of pearl (lonka lonka or riji) held by the Fondation Opale in Lens, Switzerland, one of the most significant collections of Aboriginal art. The exhibition showcases large, vibrant, and at times collaboratively-painted works by internationally-recognized artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932–2002), Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford (1922–2007), Emily Kame Kngwarreye (ca. 1910–1996), Gulumbu Yunupingu (1945–2012), John Mawurndjul (b. 1952), and Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (b. 1950).
