A major retrospective at Fondation Opale celebrates the visionary practice of Emily Kame Kngwarray, bringing together more than 80 works that reveal the enduring relationship between Indigenous knowledge, abstraction, and the living landscape.
29 June 2026
Fondation Opale presents ‘Emily Kame Kngwarray’, the most comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the celebrated Anmatyerr artist. Organised in collaboration with Tate Modern and the National Gallery of Australia, the exhibition marks 30 years since Kngwarray’s passing while reaffirming her enduring place within the global history of contemporary art.
Bringing together more than 80 works from over 25 international lenders, the exhibition traces the remarkable evolution of an artist who began painting in her seventies and, in less than a decade, transformed the language of abstraction. From her early batiks created within the Utopia community to the expansive acrylic canvases that have captivated audiences worldwide, Kngwarray’s practice reveals a profound visual philosophy rooted in Country, kinship, and ancestral knowledge.
Rather than separating abstraction from lived experience, Kngwarray’s paintings emerge as living maps of ecological memory and cultural continuity. Rhythmic dots, sweeping gestures, and vibrant fields of colour evoke seasonal cycles, ceremonial knowledge, and the interconnectedness of people and place, challenging Western distinctions between contemporary art and Indigenous knowledge systems.
Including works previously shown at the Venice Biennale alongside rare early pieces, this landmark exhibition offers a rare opportunity to encounter the extraordinary breadth of Kngwarray’s vision. More than a retrospective, it is an invitation to engage with an artistic practice that continues to reshape conversations around modernism, Indigenous sovereignty, and the universal language of painting.
This exhibition is on view at Fondation Opale until 8 November 2026.
