Djon Mundine OAM (b. 1951), a Bundjalung man, is a curator, writer, artist and activist. Between 1979 and 1995 he was the art adviser at Milingimbi and Ramingining in the Northern Territory. Together with Ramingining artists he conceived the Aboriginal Memorial, which has been on virtually continuous display at the National Gallery of Australia since 1988. Mundine has held curatorial positions in many national and international institutions, including the Art Gallery of NSW, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Queensland Art Gallery. From 2005–2006 he was research professor at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) in Osaka, Japan. His major exhibitions include Tyerabowbarwarryaou – I Shall never Become a Whiteman (with Fiona Foley, 1994) for the Havana Biennale and the Museum of Contemporary Art; The Native Born (1996) at the Museum of Contemporary Art; They are Meditating: Bark Paintings from the Museum of Contemporary Art's Arnott's Collection (2008); and the touring exhibition Bungaree: The first Australian (2015–2016). Mundine won The Australia Council's 2020 Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement and is currently an independent curator of contemporary Indigenous art and cultural mentor.
