FUTURE COUNTRY: Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions 2026

FUTURE COUNTRY is the second iteration of the Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions initiative. This national mentorship program pairs eight emerging First Nations artists and designers with established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives, presenting a unique opportunity to connect and share intergenerational knowledge, and foster artistic and professional growth.

FUTURE COUNTRY celebrates land, legacy, community and cultural continuity. In response to the exhibition’s key themes of ancestral memory, re-storying, truth-telling and future- making, participating artists have created deeply personal, culturally significant and innovative works that engage Indigenous futures and envision alternative realities. Spanning weaving, photography, sculpture, possum-skin- cloak making, moving image, sound and design, the eight new commissions explore non-linear notions of time, honour intergenerational knowledge, and convey embodied and relational understandings of place.

For more information visit: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/future-country-country-road-first-nations-commissions/

Image credit: Doreen Jinggarrabarra and Stephanie Ali in Maningrida, NT for the Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions: FUTURE COUNTRY Photo: Alana Holmberg