Voices of Our Elders: Aboriginal Story Tellers

For many years there was a misconception that Aboriginal cultures were at risk of disappearing. While many aspects have changed, Aboriginal cultures today are thriving and this exhibition documents the individual contributions made to recording and maintaining history and culture.
Included in the exhibition are over thirty photographic portraits and accompanying biographies of south east Queensland Elders. A selection of drawings from the mid-1950s and a series of overpainted photographs inspired by the drawings reveals significant body paint motifs as documented by Willie Mackenzie.
Prior to his death in 1939, Fred Embrey carved two culturally significant sculptures that ended up in the possession of the Semple family. In the 1990s, Betty McKenzie donated these to the Queensland Museum, with Fred’s granddaughter, Penny Bond, claiming them as significant cultural objects belonging to her family. A third sculpture, undoubtedly made by Fred and purchased by a private collector in the 1940s, appeared for auction in 2020. In consultation with the Fred Embrey’s descendants, QAGOMA purchased the sculpture. These sculptures are united in this exhibition for the first time in many years and spark questions about the nature of possession, ancestral connection, and the lives of objects in collections:

“Great grandfather has created a legacy by leaving all this evidence and all this very important information behind for us to share and also to acknowledge the country of where we belong.” (Sylvia Bond 2023).

Three significant carvings are on loan for the exhibition from Queensland Museum and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art alongside objects on loan to the Anthropology Museum from Fryer Library, Royal Queensland Historical Society and private lenders.

The continuation of strength and pride in Aboriginal cultures is shared through family connections, stories of great heroism and deep cultural knowledge passed on through songs, ceremony and language. Everybody has a story to tell, and these images and objects reveal stories of individuals who saw a need to document what was around them and continue strength and pride in Aboriginal cultures.