Overview

• On July 10, Tate Modern opened the first large-scale European solo exhibition of Aboriginal artist Emily Kam Kngwarray.
• The retrospective, organised with the National Gallery of Australia, spans six months and displays more than 70 works, including early batiks and her final acrylic paintings.
• Transport for London is promoting the show with vibrant reproductions of Kngwarray’s ancestral paintings across Tube stations.
• Curators have installed clear wall texts explaining key Aboriginal concepts such as Country and Dreaming to guide visitors through her cultural and spiritual narratives.
• A long-hidden 1996 letter from then-Tate director Nicholas Serota, in which he refused to acquire Australian Indigenous art, has resurfaced to underscore the institution’s earlier neglect.