Superhero costumes, crushed cars and Parliament all feature in On Country: Photography from Australia, showing at the Immigration Museum.
On Country: Photography from Australia gathers Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to look at how images shape ideas of place, belonging and identity.
The works dig into the ways Country, colonialism and community connect in Australia right now, using photography to get there.
On Country: Photography from Australia
- Where: Immigration Museum, 400 Flinders Street, Melbourne
- When: Until 13 June 2027, open daily 10am to 5pm
- Cost: Included with museum entry. Adult $15, senior $12. Child 16 and under, concession and members free
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The artists
The lineup runs to 17 artists and collectives, and the range is wide.
Tony Albert is a Girramay, Yidindji and Kuku Yalanji man whose work looks at how Aboriginal people have been misrepresented.
A major survey of his practice opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in May, and he was awarded a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in December 2025.
His series Warakurna Superheroes was made with David Charles Collins, a Perth-born artist who works across photography, performance and video.
Michael Cook, a photographer of Bidjara heritage, restages colonial-era histories in his series Majority Rule.
Atong Atem is a South Sudanese Australian artist working across photography, film and installation, and she was one of six nominees for the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro-Arles in 2025.
Adam Ferguson started out as a photojournalist covering the war in Afghanistan, and his first book, Big Sky, came out in 2024.
Ying Ang’s books include The Quickening and Gold Coast, and she teaches at the International Center of Photography in New York.
Liss Fenwick, born in the Northern Territory, finished a PhD at RMIT in 2024 on lithium mining on the Cox Peninsula. Their photobook Humpty Doom was a finalist for the Paris Aperture First Book Award.
Lisa Sorgini focuses on caregiving and motherhood, and her book In-Passing was shortlisted for the 2026 Rencontres d’Arles Book Award.
Then there’s The Huxleys, a duo who bring queer spectacle and disco-flavoured costume to their photography and performance.
J Davies is a Melbourne-based takatāpui artist who won the Midsumma Art Award in 2026.
Brenda L Croft is a Gurindji, Malngin and Mudburra woman and a professor at the Australian National University. Robert Fielding lives in Mimili on the APY Lands and held his first international solo show at Fondation Opale in Switzerland in 2018.
The rest of the list is Elisa Jane Carmichael and Sonja Carmichael, Maree Clarke, Ricky Maynard, Tace Stevens, wani toaishara and James Tylor.
How it got here
The exhibition was developed by PHOTO Australia and co-produced with the Rencontres d’Arles, where it was shown in France in 2025.
PHOTO Australia was founded by Elias Redstone and has ongoing support from the Bowness Family Foundation and the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.
It’s curated by Brendan McCleary, Pippa Milne, Dr Kimberley Moulton and Elias Redstone. McCleary is a curator and producer. Milne is Curator for Museums and Collections at the University of Melbourne.
Moulton is a Yorta Yorta woman and Senior Curator at RISING Festival. Redstone was PHOTO Australia’s artistic director from 2018 to 2025.
Good to know
Curators’ tours run on 17 October at 11am and 1pm, with artists in attendance. They start in the Level 2 foyer, and the same ticket prices apply, with First Peoples free.
The exhibition includes names and images of people who have passed away, images of deceased animals and images of nudity. For accessibility support, call 13 11 02 or email [email protected].
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne Museum.
