Judy Watson & Helen Johnson: The red thread of history, loose ends, is an opportunity to experience the work of two leading Australian artists in an exhibition that explores complex and varied perspectives on colonisation, with an emphasis on the experience of women.

Watson, a Waanyi woman, based on Jagera/Yuggera and Turrbal Country of Meanjin/Brisbane and Johnson, a second-generation immigrant of Anglo descent based on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country in Naarm/Melbourne, have each developed new works that speak from their individual and Ancestral cultural experiences living in Australia. Originally commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia for the Know My Name program, and as part of the Balnaves Contemporary Series, at MUMA this exhibition is brought together with existing works by each artist that explore the significance of family and motherhood, the importance of matrilineal lineage, and the tensions between individualism and connectedness.

Image: Artists Helen Johnson and Judy Watson in Judy Watson & Helen Johnson: The red thread of history, loose ends at the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2022. Courtesy of NGA.