Unresolved cultural, environmental and psychological histories are in the spotlight in a contemporary art exhibition opening at the UQ Art Museum on 13 April.

The Dust Never Settles features 73 works from The UQ Art Collection, including many that have not been exhibited before.

Curator Michele Helmrich said the exhibition looked at historical issues that continued to resonate today.

“The saying ‘once the dust settles’ assumes that difficulties will be resolved and a better future beckons – but history tells us this isn’t always the case,” Ms Helmrich said.

“The Dust Never Settles inverts that familiar saying and asks us to consider the lingering concerns and unfinished business that motivates many contemporary artists.

“Indigenous artists bring into scrutiny the impact of settlement on their lives, culture and country, while other artists take to task our impact on the environment, with works relating to bird extinctions, mining and the Maralinga nuclear tests.

“However, not all the dust that lingers is negative – despite the inroads of relentless 'progress', some of the artworks testify that cultural traditions and practices may endure or reassert their relevance and vitality.”

Ms Helmrich said Angelica Mesiti’s three-channel video The Calling, presented a cinematic evocation of whistling languages still used in remote parts of Europe.

A full list of artists featured in the exhibition can be found here.

The Dust Never Settles runs from 13 April to 30 July..

Download images for print and web here.

Images at left - James Tylor Terra Botanica I (Banksia grandis) 2015: right - Emma Lindsay Tiwi Islands hooded robin (Melanodryas cucullata melvillensis) South Australian Museum (Australia) 2016 

Media: Sonia Uranishi, sonia@soniauranishicommunication.com, +61 409 387 623; Sebastian Moody, s.moody@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 8761.