Djon Mundine is a charismatic art curator, writer, speaker, and activist from the Bandjalung nation of the Australian east coast. He is of Aboriginal (Bandjalung) and Irish (County Cork) descent. He is also connected with the Yolngu (Aboriginal) communities of Milingimbi, Maningrida, and Ramingining of central Arnhem Land through working there for 16 (sixteen) years through the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 21stcentury. He was a key founding member of ANKAA.
He has held senior curatorial positions at state and national institutions (AGNSW, MCA, QAG, MAGNT, NAM) and collaborated with the NGA on major international exhibitions such as Tyerabarbowaryaou-I Shall Never Become a Whiteman, for the 1994 Havana Biennale, Cuba; and The World of Dreaming, at the prestigious Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (2000).
He is a seminal figure in the critical writing on Australia’s First Peoples cultural expression, including Ngadhu-Ngulili-Ngeaninyagu: I-We–Us. A Personal History of Aboriginal Art in the Premier State, Campbelltown Arts Centre.