5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain

Tony Albert (Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples, born 1981, Townsville, Queensland) is an established contemporary artist with a longstanding interest in the cultural misrepresentation of Aboriginal people. Drawing on both personal and collective histories, his multidisciplinary practice considers the ways in which optimism might be utilised to overcome adversity. His work poses crucial questions such as how do we remember, give justice to, and rewrite complex and traumatic histories?

Albert is acknowledged industry wide as a valued ambassador for Indigenous community and culture. He was recently announced as the inaugural Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain First Nations Curatorial Fellow. He is the first Indigenous Trustee for the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a member of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Indigenous advisory, a board member for the City of Sydney's Public Art Panel and member of the Art & Place Board at the Queensland Children's Hospital and in January 2023 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Griffith University for his significant contribution to the arts.

The National Indigenous Art Triennial is the National Gallery’s flagship exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Led by a First Nations curator, the exhibition brings together commissioned work by established and emerging First Nations artists from across Australia, creating an important platform for art and ideas.

Since the Triennial’s inception in 2007, more than 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists have had their work presented at the National Gallery.