‘Moving Backwards into the Future is an interdisciplinary exhibition that features more than 100 of the finest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander works from the NGV collection. The exhibits reflect different elements of Indigenous art history and culture from the early nineteenth century to now and explore the evolution and status of Indigenous art within the context of contemporary world art. Central to the exhibition is the idea that Indigenous visual culture – the world’s longest continuing art tradition – is not a fossilised expression of an unchanging society but like the concept of the Dreaming is meta-temporal, that is, it incorporates the past, present and future into a complete and present reality. Moreover, Indigenous art is an aesthetic experience, a courier of visual culture, a seductive and eloquent articulation of identity, time and place.’ Excerpt from catalogue.

Language from the Yawuru People, Kimberley region, Western Australia.