As one of the most diverse, multicultural countries in the world today, Australia is a place where artists examine their past to find their future. Urgently navigating their post-colonial history with a desire to respect and reconcile Indigenous, Anglo-European, Asian and other cultures, Australian artists explore questions of identity and belonging in the context of an increasingly ecologically fragile continent. These challenging circumstances have given rise to some of the most exciting and meaningful contemporary photography anywhere.

Inspired by the Peter Farrell Australian Photography Collection at the Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego, the exhibition combines iconic images from Australia’s photographic history with powerful work by eleven internationally renowned Australian contemporary artists. “Under a Southern Star” navigates the cultural collision between the “Old World” of Europe and the so-called “New World” of Terra Australis, illustrating changing views of Australian identity, and confronting omissions.

Over a span of nearly 150 years, the baton of well-known historic Australian photographs by famous artists such as John Lindt, Harold Cazneaux, Olive Cotton, Max Dupain and David Moore is picked up in the late 20th century by Bill Henson, Tracey Moffatt, Roger Scott, Anne Zahalka and Rosemary Laing. Contemporary image-makers such as Michael Cook, Judith Nangala Crispin, Trent Parke, Polixeni Papapetrou, Ricky Maynard, Vee Speers and Justine Varga further the artistic conversation surrounding identity and environment.

Meanwhile, antiquated ideas of Australian identity as white, independent, and stoically masculine are variously challenged. For example, the exhibition includes a variety of portraits of Aboriginal Australians, re-affirming their centrality to Australia’s pre-European and its post-colonial history. In addition, Vee Speers references Australia’s convict past in her Guity Not Guilty series, by altering minor criminal mug shots to give them a new likeness and story by which we become the judge of their innocence or guilt.

Comprised of a diverse array of visually-striking techniques – solarization, digitally altered photo tableaux, daguerreotypes, inscribed Polaroids and street portraits taken on grainy 35mm film among others – the juxtaposition of historical and contemporary photography included in the exhibition allows visitors to follow the medium’s evolution while providing critical insight into Australia’s cultural history.

 Educational themes include indigenous culture and cultural identity, migration and colonialism, nationhood and environment.