The Cross Art Projects

04/09/2026

In collaboration with :

'The first and last voices you will hear when entering and exiting IncarcerNation are those of First Nations kids who have spent time in detention centres.

Code Black/Riot, 2025 exposes how youth detention systems target and violate the human rights of First Nations children in Australia. Taking its name from the language used within these institutions, the work presents interviews with children and staff, interspersed with film taken of the subjects at play, revealing the violence inherent in a system that works to deprive children of a future.

The crisis of mass incarceration of First Nations youth in Australia is an issue that demands not only national attention, but also collective action.

Also part of the Code Black/Riot project is an original text from Behrouz Boochani in which the writer reflects on his lived experience inside an Australian immigration detention centre on Manus Island and the parallels he sees with the system of First Nations youth detention.

NCCA is grateful to our lenders for allowing us to exhibit this work. Courtesy of the artists, , and '

Curated by Djon Mundine OAM, Don Christophersen, Jo Holder and Petrit Abazi

IncarcerNation runs until 26 September 2026





Code Black/Riot, 2025
Four-channel digital video installation, colour, sound
33 mins�
Photography: 1-3 ; 4-6

27/08/2026

The Cross Art Projects is proud to co-present the off-site exhibition 'IncarcerNation' — currently showing the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art (NCCA), Darwin, Northern Territory

Exhibition runs 5 August – 26 September 2026

Presented in partnership with NCCA and co-curated by Djon Mundine OAM, Don Nawurlany Christophersen, Jo Holder and Petrit Abazi

Artists
Hoda Afshar, Vernon Ah Kee, Billiamook, Nick Bland, M. Boko, Behrouz Boochani, Selma Nunay Coulthard, Mathew Dargan, Unrupa Rhonda Dick, Charlie Flannigan, Nicholas Gouldhurst, Jack Green, Zak Grieve, Gary Lee, Chips Mackinolty, Sara Maiorino, Georgie Mattingley, Archie Moore, Sally M Nangala Mulda, Albert Namatjira, Vincent Namatjira, Sandra Saunders, Gordon Syron, Jason Wing, Anwar Young and Frank Young
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This exhibition confronts Australia’s disgraceful and systemic mass incarceration crisis and the over-representation of First Nations people within it. Artists have the imaginative power to remind us that the pinnacle of human activity is the dignity of all people. They help us imagine a future where crime and imprisonment rates are low; a society where people of every social and economic background have an equal opportunity to flourish as dignified human beings in thriving communities.

View the catalogue essay at www.crossart.com.au

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Images courtesy of Jack Bullen / NCCA.

17/08/2026

Vale Vivienne Binns
We remember and honour the passing of a pioneer of relational art in Australia.

https://creative.gov.au/news-events/news/vale-vivienne-binns-oam

Vivienne Binns: Twenty First Century Paintings. Curator Merryn Gates — 1 April to 1 May 2004
https://crossart.com.au/exhibition-archive/vivienne-binns-twenty-first-century-paintings-curator-merryn-gates-1-april-to-1-may-2004/

Vivienne Binns: Twenty First Century Paintings. Curator Merryn Gates — 1 April to 1 May 2004 Vivienne Binns: Twenty First Century Paintings. Curator Merryn Gates — 1 April to 1 May 2004 Curated by Merryn Gates Vivienne Binns’s place in Australian art is now well established. Today, critics cal...

13/08/2026

FINAL DAYS to see 'Minga Yuwankui: Ancient Body Markings'

The exhibition final day will be this Saturday 15 August at The Cross Art Projects.

With immense thanks to the artists from Ngaruwanajirri, Tiwi Islands:
Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr
Gordon Pupangamirri
Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri

Visit this rare insight into their work and Tiwi Islands culture, proudly presented by Ngaruwanajirri Inc at Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island.



Visit www.crossart.com.au for more information
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1. Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri
2. Gordon Pupangamirri
3. Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr
Photographs courtesy: Ngaruwanajirri Art Centre.

07/08/2026

Works on paper by the artists of 'Minga Yuwankui: Ancient Body Markings'

The exhibition continues at The Cross Art Projects

Please note we will be closed tomorrow (Saturday 8 August) but reopen next week (Thursday 13th).

ARTISTS FROM NGARUWANAJIRRI, TIWI ISLANDS
Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr�
Gordon Pupangamirri�
Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri��

�Proudly presented by Ngaruwanajirri Inc at Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands



Artworks:
1, 3, 5 + 6. Alfonso Puautjimi, natural ochres on paper, 2026
2 + 4. Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri, natural ochres on paper, 2026

06/08/2026

Minga Yuwankui: Ancient Body Markings continues at The Cross Art Projects

ARTISTS FROM NGARUWANAJIRRI, TIWI ISLANDS
Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr
�Gordon Pupangamirri
Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri��

Exhibition runs 4 July to 15 August 2026�
Proudly presented by Ngaruwanajirri Inc at Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands

Shown here are details of the unique handprinted textiles by the three artists.

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‘Minga are the initiation scars from the old times. Jilamara are the designs we paint on our body and face for ceremony like funerals, kulama, yoyi [dance].’ — Gordon Pupangamirri

31/07/2026

Minga Yuwankui: Ancient Body Markings continues at The Cross Art Projects

ARTISTS FROM NGARUWANAJIRRI, TIWI ISLANDS
Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr�Gordon Pupangamirri�Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri��
Exhibition runs 4 July to 15 August 2026�Proudly presented by Ngaruwanajirri Inc at Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands

Shown here are details of the barks and unique handprinted textiles by the three artists.

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‘Minga are the initiation scars from the old times. Jilamara are the designs we paint on our body and face for ceremony like funerals, kulama, yoyi [dance].’ — Gordon Pupangamirri



1. Alfonso Puautjimi, Jilamara, 2026, natural ochres on bark, 95 x 66 cm ( #169-26) (detail)
2. Gordon John Pupangamirri, Mirraparinga jilamara (Mangrove Design) Shirt, 2026 (detail)
3. Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri, Ampiji jilamara Tshirt, 2026 (detail)
4. Alfonso Puautjimi, Jilamara Tshirt, 2026 (detail)
5. Gordon John Pupangamirri, Mirriparinga jilamara (Mangrove design), 2026, natural ochres on bark, 75 x 44, 75 x 44 cm ( #42-26) (detail)

17/07/2026

'Minga Yuwankui: Ancient Body Markings' continues at The Cross Art Projects to 15 August 2026

ARTISTS FROM NGARUWANAJIRRI, TIWI ISLANDS
Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr
Gordon Pupangamirri
Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri

Proudly presented by Ngaruwanajirri Inc at Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands

Shown here are the front and back view of the tunga (bark baskets)—which the artists created alongside bark paintings (mintawunga jilamara) as foundational works. They then extended these works into a series of lino block designs printed onto fabric, from which each artist designed and created a set of garments to be worn alongside their tunga. While techniques and technologies change, jilamara and Tiwi culture retain their power, relevance, and meaning within the contemporary world. Ngaruwanajirri has a long history of lino block printing on paper and batik on silk. Within this exhibition this lineage has been extended, connecting ancestral knowledge and cultural practices with new forms of artistic expression.


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1. Alfonso Puautjimi, Tunga Jilamara, 2026, natural ochres on bark (Tunga), 73 x 39 x 20 cm ( #259-26)
2. Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri, Ampiji jilamara (Rainbow serpent design), 2026, natural ochres on bark (Tunga), 58 x 40 x 23 cm ( #258-26)
3. Gordon John Pupangamirri, Mirriparinga jilamara (Mangrove design), 2026, natural ochres on bark (Tunga), 52 x 33 x 19 cm ( #428-26)

10/07/2026

Last Saturday saw the opening of 'Minga Yuwankui: Ancient Body Markings', where artist Gordon Pupangamirri spoke generously on the history, practices, artists and daily life of Ngaruwanajirri Inc (Tiwi Islands), in conversation with studio coordinator Sarah Newell and alongside Adam Tipungwuti. You can now listen to the audio recording here:

https://soundcloud.com/the-cross-art-projects/conversation-minga-yuwankui?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Thank you to all who attended! The exhibition is now open and continues at The Cross Art Projects to 15 August 2026.

Featuring works by:
Alfonso (Hardy) Puautjimi Jnr
Gordon Pupangamirri
Marie Yvonne Tipuamantumirri

Proudly presented by Ngaruwanajirri Inc at Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands

Ngaruwanajirri