The Potter Museum of Art, the flagship art museum of the University of Melbourne, has today announced the full list of artists and details of the six new commissions for its re-opening exhibition, 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art.

Curated by Associate Provost and Distinguished Professor Marcia Langton AO, Senior Curator Judith Ryan AM, and Associate Curator Shanysa McConville—in consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and custodians of art traditions—the exhibition explores the recognition of Indigenous art and its rise to prominence globally.

The enduring significance of Indigenous cultural and design traditions, knowledge, and agency is revealed in the spectacular curation of more than 450 works from the first peoples of Australia, including six new commissions by Brett Leavy, Julie Gough, Betty Muffler and Maringka Burton, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Sandra Aitken and Vicki West.

The exhibition will open at the revitalised Museum during Reconciliation Week on 30 May 2025 and run until 23 November 2025.

Image: Betty Muffler (Pitjantjatjara, born 1945) and Maringka Burton (Pitjantjatjara, born 1950), Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country) 2022, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 300 × 500cm. The University of Melbourne Art Collection