Reconciliation Action Plan

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Reconciliation Action Plan 31 CASE STUDY: MAJOR ACQUISITION untitled (giran) 2018, Jonathan Jones in collaboration with Dr Uncle Stan Grant Snr AM Commissioned for ‘The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’, untitled (giran) 2018 is an immersive wall-based installation. The artwork includes some 1700 sculptures: each is made from a small bundle of feathers, gathered from birds across Australia, bound to a stone ‘tool’ with handmade string. Presented together, this murmuration of winged sculptures evokes birds in collective flight. Created by Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones, in partnership with esteemed Elder and Wiradjuri language expert Dr Uncle Stan Grant Snr AM, the work also features audial and olfactory elements, with the sounds of wind, bird calls and breathing susurrating through the space, and eucalyptus in the air. Jones worked with family members, Wiradjuri community and long-time artistic collaborators — including Ngarrindjeri artist Yvonne Koolmatrie — from across the country’s south east to produce the installation. As curator Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow explains, the process of making brings people together and enhances connections to land, culture and language. It also strengthens ties to generations who have passed on; a counter to the loss of knowledge that has occurred in modern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history. With untitled (giran) , Jones shares traditional knowledge and seeks to foster change and the exchange of ideas and skills. This monumental work was acquired for the QAGOMA Collection through the generous support of Tim Fairfax AC. untitled (giran) represents the work of many members of the south-east Aboriginal community with support from the wider community. It showcases the unbroken knowledge, skills and culture that are within us and within our Country. More than anything the work speaks to the change that our communities have forged, driven by our Elders, a change that has seen us speaking our language for the first time in generations, making visible our heritage and celebrating our identity. This change is like the wind coming through our Country and waking up our imagination. Jonathan Jones Opposite, above: Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones speaking on untitled (giran) 2018, commissioned for APT9, GOMA / Photograph: Chloe Callistemon / © Jonathan Jones Opposite, below and this page: Installation views of untitled (giran) 2018, during APT9, GOMA / Photographs: Natasha Harth