Wajgan's Return I Ron Hurley - Curated by Angelina Hurley

Wajgan's Return celebrates the work of Ron Hurley (1946 - 2002). A Gooreng Gooreng/Mununjali man, the exhibition takes place in the country of his matrilineal ancestry from the Bundaberg and Gladstone regions. Curated by his daughter, Angelina Hurley, the retrospective exhibition is the first mixed-media presentation of Ron's work on country.

Wajgan's Return pays respect to and celebrates the totems and stories of the Gooreng Gooreng people, including 'Gnyala' the Owl and his personal totem 'Wajgan' the Willy Wag Tail.

Ron Hurley is recognised as one of the first Aboriginal artists to successfully mix First Nations and Western Art, and was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from the Qld College of Art, with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, in 1975. His arts practice crosses different media, such as painting, individual and public sculptures, ceramics, photography, printmaking and jewellery. His work, based on political and historical figures, recognised the plight of First Nations People in urban society, and he was a strong advocate for the artistic, cultural, and human rights of First Nations communities.

Wajgan's Return will feature artworks from the Hurley Family Collection, as well as works from the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection and the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum

Image: Ron Hurley, George Johnson (detail), 1989, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 121 x 166cm. Courtesy of the Bundaberg Regional Galleries Collection.