This summer, the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery unveils Unfolding, a landmark exhibition celebrating the power, diversity and cultural depth of First Nations works on paper. Bringing together more than 100 artworks by over 80 artists, the exhibition highlights paper not as a modest material, but as a vessel for identity, history, language and connection to Country.
CommunityUnfolding: First Nations Works on Paper
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16 December 2025
Curated in collaboration with Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman and KarraJarri artist and curator Jenna (Mayilema) Lee, Unfolding explores how First Nations artists have long transformed paper into a site of resistance, renewal and storytelling. For Lee, the medium holds a unique duality: once used to catalogue and constrain, it is now reclaimed as a space for truth-telling. “Paper becomes something else entirely,” she explains. “A surface for possibility, a reminder that this everyday material can bear the weight of history while opening space for newer, truer tellings.”
The exhibition features an extraordinary cross-section of artists including Queenie McKenzie, Gloria Petyarre, Robert Fielding, Brian Robinson, Brian Martin, Fiona Foley, Nici Cumpston, d harding, Danie Mellor, Teho Ropeyarn, Lisa Waup, Sally Morgan, and many more. Together, their works reflect a breadth of practices—from drawing and printmaking to painting and sculptural explorations of paper itself.
MPRG’s First Nations collection has been steadily shaped over the past 55 years, guided by a core commitment to acquiring nationally significant works on paper. Today, the Permanent Collection includes more than 400 works by nearly 170 First Nations artists. The first, Sally Morgan’s Swamphen at Lake Joondalup (1997), marked the beginning of an ongoing dedication to elevating First Nations voices through collecting and exhibition practices.
Co-curator Stephanie Sacco notes the distinction of this growing body of work: “Every single First Nations piece in the Collection is a work on paper. This Collection tells the story of the significance of this medium to First Nations artists.”
On Friday 23 January, First Nations DJs Fosters and Pvrtal, each drawing on their own cultural heritage, will bring an electrifying night of music, culture and community to the Gallery. Unfolding runs from 29 November to 15 February 2026, offering a profound and expansive look at the enduring strength of First Nations stories—told through the humble, powerful medium of paper.
LEARN MORE: https://mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Exhibitions/Current-exhibitions/Unfolding-First-Nations-Works-on-Paper
