The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Children’s Art Centre will present ‘Kangaroo Crew’, an interactive exhibition for children and families by Queensland Aboriginal artist Gordon Hookey, from June 1 until January 27, 2014.
QAGOMA Director Chris Saines said ‘Kangaroo Crew’ would accompany the exhibition ‘My Country, I Still Call Australia Home: Contemporary Art from Black Australia’, occupying the entire Park Level of GOMA’s Children’s Art Centre.
‘The exhibition is based on ‘The Sacred Hill’, a story by Gordon Hookey which introduces four kangaroos — Blue, the plains kangaroo; Rocko, the rock wallaby; Potsy, the potoroo; and Treez, the tree kangaroo – who once lived together on the sacred hill,’ Mr Saines said.
‘When their home is threatened by the arrival of the myna birds, the kangaroos are forced to leave, but soon unite and embark on an adventure that leads them back home to the sacred hill.
‘The original art works created for the story are on display in the exhibition, and published in the story book The Sacred Hill, the sixth publication in the Gallery’s award-winning series of books for children.’
‘Kangaroo Crew’ includes Make A Roo, a three dimensional mask-making activity in which children create their own kangaroo character to wear as they explore the habitats of the exhibition space; You Roo, a multimedia interactive that allows users to personalise a digital poster with their own image and share it by email and social media; and Kangarcade, a series of classic-style arcade games that see the kangaroos return home to the sacred hill.
Mr Saines said the Gallery was marking 15 years of programming for young visitors.
‘Since the exhibition ‘Portraits are People Pictures’ in 1998, the Gallery has become a leader in developing interactive exhibitions, projects, activities and publications for children and their families.
‘Through collaboration with artists, the Children’s Art Centre helps children engage with contemporary cultures and experience the many ways artists approach their work. Over the past 15 years, the Gallery has worked with more than 100 Australian and international contemporary artists,’ he said.
Gordon Hookey’s ‘Kangaroo Crew’ is the fifth in the series of exhibitions profiling the work of contemporary Australian artists, following Anne Wallace’s ‘Release the Bats’ (2009), Callum Morton’s ‘Ghost World’ (2010), Pip & Pop’s ‘we miss you magic land!’ (2011) and Fiona Hall’s ‘Fly Away Home’ (2012). Gordon Hookey is the first Indigenous artist to be presented in this series.
Gordon Hookey was born in Cloncurry, Queensland in 1961 and belongs to the Waanyi people. He has exhibited extensively around Australia and internationally since 1990, and is a member of the Aboriginal artist collective proppaNOW. He lives and works in Brisbane.
‘Kangaroo Crew’ is sponsored by Brisbane Airport Corporation. The Children’s Art Centre publication The Sacred Hill is supported by Solutions in Engineering. The Children’s Art Centre is sponsored by Santos GLNG Project.
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