View iconic contemporary artworks that reach back into millennia-old art practices. The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art is the largest exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ever presented internationally, representing a diverse range of the more than 250 distinct nations that make up Indigenous Australia. The exhibition charts watershed moments in Australian Indigenous art, celebrating a vivid history of creativity that predates the arrival of Europeans by many thousands of years.

The exhibition features more than 200 artworks by more than 130 artists, among them several undisputed masterworks from the National Gallery of Victoria’s collection. Many of these staggering, large-scale works have never before left the country. The Stars We Do Not See is curated especially to introduce North American audiences to customary forms and styles, such as the conceptual map paintings of the Central and Western Desert Regions (sometimes colloquially referred to as “dot paintings”), ochre on bark paintings from far Northern Australia and ambitious experimental weavings. The exhibition also presents powerful works in neon, video and  photography that challenge and build upon tradition.

The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art is organized by the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Art, Washington in association with the Denver Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum, and the Peabody Essex Museum. Bank of America is the North American Tour Sponsor for the exhibition. Generous support is also provided by Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation, and Karla and Jeff Kaneb. We thank Jennifer and Andrew Borggaard, James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes, The Creighton Family, Chip and Susan Robie, Karla and Jeff Kaneb, Timothy T. Hilton, and an anonymous donor as supporters of the Exhibition Innovation Fund. We also recognize the generosity of the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.

 

EXHIBITION TOURING SCHEDULE
National Gallery of Art | October 19, 2025–March 1, 2026
Denver Art Museum | April 19–July 26, 2026
Portland Art Museum | September 5, 2026–January 3, 2027