23 February to 4 September 2026
This exhibition features over 130 Australian shields from the collection of the Anthropology Museum. A small proportion of these shields have entered the collection with detailed information about their origins. However, the vast majority were collected or donated with very little, or at times no information attached. Where that is the case, further information can be found by comparison with appearance in historical photographs, in written sources and shields in other museum collections. It is this research that provides some clues as to where those with no or minimal information attached may have come from.
The collection shields are exhibited alongside works by contemporary Indigenous artists that have been influenced by traditional shield designs. Featuring a special selection of recent works by artists Paul Bong, Jennifer Herd, Judy Watson, Bernard Singleton Jnr and Dylan Sarra.
This exhibition provides an opportunity to bring together what we know about regional style variations and discuss areas for further research creating an opportunity for the Museum to reconnect these shields with makers and communities.
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Acknowledgements
Exhibition curation: Michael Aird with Mandana Mapar
Provenance and collection research: Jane Willcock, Elizabeth Reid, Camella Griffiths
Installation: Siti Ridhuan, Mandana Mapar, Jane Willcock, Shannon O'Hara and Dean Ansell
Conservation: Chloe Bussenschutt
With warm thanks to Llewellyn Millhouse, Sabina Evans-Zanardi, Ross Chadwick, UQ School of Social Science, UQ Branding, Fireworks Gallery and Milani Gallery
Banner image: Maker not recorded. Shield from south-west Queensland. Bequest of Father Leo Hayes, 1967. Photo by Carl Warner
