Major Summer Programme Announced at Bundanon Art Museum

In the wake of a groundbreaking exhibition presenting the dialogue between Arthur Boyd and contemporary artist Shaun Gladwell, Bundanon announces their major upcoming presentations. From October 31 2026 – February 14 2027, the art museum presents two major solo exhibitions by senior Aṉangu artist and ngangkari (traditional healer) Betty Muffler and Pakistani-born Australian artist Mehwish Iqbal. The interconnectedness of these major presentations is essential as both artists represent a connection to land through a cultural exchange of knowledge and story.

As a highly regarded Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara senior woman, this will be Betty Muffler’s first major institutional exhibition. Born in 1944, near Watarru in South Australia, Muffler was witness to many catastrophes inflicted upon her land and people. British atomic testing conducted on Maralinga and Emu Junction caused both displacement and death of close family and community, exposing Muffler to tragedy at a young age. The interchange of story and the processing of loss has informed Muffler’s creative practice by depicting sacred sites as told by her ancestors. Betty Muffler has been a finalist in the prestigious Wynne Prize in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award three times whilst winning the Emerging Artist Award in 2017 and the General Painting Award in 2022.

Ngangkari Ngura – Healing Country is an exhibition which develops upon the sacred healing powers Betty Muffler bestows upon her community, and has now embedded within her craft. A series of new paintings showcase the monochromatic, intricate dot work, which Muffler has become synonymous with in recent years. These works incorporate the mapping of country in order to preserve ancestral knowledge, connection and the honouring of land. Alongside the new artworks are a selection of quintessential works produced at pivotal moments within Betty Muffler’s career which Bundanon have acquired on loan from public and private collections across Australia. This includes the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of South Australia, Ian Potter Museum of Art, and the Iwantja Arts Centre. The exhibition will be accompanied by a significant documentary produced by Iwantja Arts in collaboration with Bundanon providing insight into the artist’s spiritual knowledge and how that informs her creative practice.

“Through my paintings you can see my Ngangkari work: watching over people and also looking after Country. My Country. This place is very important—we all need to look after each other and respect our home.”- Betty Muffler

Mehwish Iqbal is a contemporary artist deeply concerned with migration, womanhood, memory and displacement in the way it is rooted within our natural environment. The layering of story and shared knowledge is embedded within the variety of mediums the artist employs such as printmaking, sculpture, textiles and painting. Since 2011 Iqbal has completed artist residencies across New York, Turkey, Thailand, Australia and exhibited in major solo and group exhibitions across Istanbul, France, Hong Kong and Singapore. Through the consistent engagement with various communities, the artist hopes to generate discourse and promote conversations of diaspora and the connection to land, which simultaneously forms her artistic output.

Bait-al-Nahl – The House of Bees is an exhibition centered around the motif of a hive, a core habitat promoting production, co-habitation and community. The exhibition title refers to a Qur’anic verse which highlights the role of a bee and its beneficiary impact on the natural life cycle through nurture and construction. Comprised of silk, paper and sculptural works the exhibition features significant projects undertaken in Iqbal’s career. This includes a 12-metre silk work, hand-woven by artisans in Murshidabad, India before being printed and embroidered by the artist and her daughter in Sydney. At the centre of Iqbal’s oeuvre is the idea that material is embedded with tradition, shared histories and is subsequently being used as a vessel of informational exchange amongst different cultures.

“My practice is grounded in the idea of harmony—how it is made, fractured, and reimagined in times of uncertainty. This body of work comes at a moment of global unrest, shaped by displacement, migration, and the loss of home. In response, I create works that invite reflection, introspection, and hope.” – Mehwish Iqbal

Bundanon Art Museum will present these major presentations from 31 October 2026 – 14 February 2027, Wednesday – Sunday, 10am–4pm. Entry fee.

Image: Betty Muffler and Mehwish Iqbal. Courtesy of Bundanon.