Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) presents the first solo museum exhibition by Kamilaroi artist Warraba Weatherall, whose work has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally over the past decade. Through a dynamic combination of installation, sculpture and video works, Shadow and Substance turns a critical eye to the colonial record – reframing existing narratives about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture found within archival and museum collections.
Drawing on his own family’s experiences, Weatherall’s work draws attention to the ethics of how Indigenous property, cultural information and materials have been historically acquired and displayed. A refined display that invites contemplation, this exhibition curated by MCA Australia Curator Megan Robson premieres several brand new artworks, including ‘Trace’ (2025) a major new co-commission between the MCA and the Hawaiʻi Triennial 2025, which resembles a giant spinning toy.
‘Dirge’ (2023) is a particularly fascinating piece, which draws attention to the ways in which information is “translated and transmitted”. Weatherall has created a large-scale, custom-built polyphon – a disc-operated mechanical music box – and the score it plays is a Braille translation of a colonial document relating to Aboriginal land rights found in an Australian museum.
Running until September 21, Shadow and Substance is part of the MCA’s autumn 2025 exhibition program. You can spend up to an hour inspecting and translating the layers of Weatherall’s meaning-rich works, then have plenty of time to check out the other new displays. This includes The Intelligence of Painting, a showcase of contemporary Australian painting through the work of 14 women artists; a new iteration of of MCA Collection: Artists in Focus, featuring the work of 18 Australian artists; and the new 2025 Circular Quay Foyer Wall Commission, The Civilisation of the Abstract (2025), by Naarm/Melbourne based artist Diena Georgetti.
Exhibition entry is included with the MCA’s newly introduced General Admission fee, which is $20 for adults and $16 for concessions (free for MCA Members, under 18s and Australian students). An All Access ticket, which also includes entry to the major summer exhibition Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory (closes April 27) will set you back $35 (or $28 for concessions). Tickets are on sale over here.
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