FUMA NEWS | Q3 2025

As this issue goes live, FUMA farewells Crosscurrents and prepares for the next exhibition, ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together), showing as part of the 10th Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. Behind the scenes, we’ve recently updated our Collection Policy, built the case for a new collection management system and are readying the collection stores for refurbishment, starting soon. It’s also been a busy season of talks and tours—from Open Days and school visits to workshops with the Curriculum Impact team—alongside steady demand for art-led learning across the University. Read on for more.

Welcome Dr Belinda Howden

Belinda commenced at FUMA as Senior Curator at the start of the month. With 15+ years’ experience across museums, galleries, publishing and academia, she brings deep knowledge, plenty of know-how, and abundant new energy and ideas to the team. Her track record spans major exhibitions, publications and public programs—including Crosscurrents, most recently guest-curated for FUMA—demonstrating her curatorial flair, writing skill, and passion for making art engaging and accessible.  We are delighted to have her on board!

Image: Belinda Howden pictured with The Drowned Face (always staring towards the sun), 2024—2025, by Mary-Jean Richardson at FUMA. Photo: FUMA

Crosscurrents publication

The stunning Crosscurrents publication was recently launched by acclaimed author, editor, and critic Jennifer Mills, who shared erudite and moving reflections, and generous praise for the book.

Designed by Anna Zagala, this richly illustrated work includes essays by Alessandro Antonello, Charity Edwards, Killian Quigley, and Belinda Howden which provide timely and nuanced ways of thinking about the sea, and our relationships and responsibilities to it.  It also contains a Crosscurrents limited-edition print, lovingly tucked into the book’s jacket.  At just $60, this unique publication is a must-have—contact FUMA to purchase a copy today! 

Left – cover graphic: Photograph Andrew Cowen, Designer: Anna Zagala, Sweet Polka, Printer Adams Print. Right – Jennifer Mills speaking at Crosscurrents Publication Launch, 28 August 2025. Photo: FUMA

Crosscurrents in conversation at AGSA

Join us at AGSA at 5:30pm on Friday 3 October to hear more from the artists and curator of Crosscurrents and to purchase a copy of the limited-edition publication. As part of AGSA’s First Fridays program, and in celebration of the 2025 Nature Festival theme FLOW, the panel will share insights into the fieldwork that informed the exhibition and its wider ecological timeliness for the South Australian coastline. Please register your attendance here. 

Image: top left–right, Michael Kutschbach, Honor Freeman, Chris De Rosa; bottom left–right, Brad Darkson, Sonya Rankine, Mary-Jean Richardson. Photos: Andrew Cowen.

Toxic Waters

This week the federal Senate inquiry into the toxic algal bloom—Karenia mikimotoi—commenced, gathering testimony from industry and communities on ecological, health, and economic impacts.  Meanwhile, an experimental "bubble curtain" has been deployed at Point Lowly to protect tens of thousands of cuttlefish eggs and hatchlings, while health authorities have warned individuals with respiratory issues to avoid discoloured water or sea foam, though beaches remain open.

For anyone who missed it, the Toxic Waters panel discussion, exploring the science and broader impacts of this unfolding environmental crisis, can be viewed here. Drawing a huge crowd, this discussion was hosted by FUMA in association with the Crosscurrents exhibition.

Image: Evidence of Karenia mikimotoi in Ramindjeri waters / Encounter Bay, March 2025. Photo: Andrew Cowen

Save the date
ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together)

Since its inception in 2015, FUMA has been a proud participant of Tarnanthi—a nation leading showcase of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.  As part of the 2025 program, we are delighted to present ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together), an exhibition that brings together six Barkandji/Barkindji artists working in diverse mediums, who have aspired to make Barkandji/Barkindji Country an active participant in their project:  Nici Cumpston, Zena Cumpston, David Doyle, Kent Morris, Adrianne Semmens and Raymond Zada.

ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together) is a Bunjil Place Gallery exhibition, curated by Nici Cumpston and Zena Cumpston, touring with NETS Victoria. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government's Visions of Australia program and received development assistance from NETS Victoria's Exhibition Development Fund, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

The project's co-curator and participating artist Nici Cumpston is also Artistic Director of Tarnanthi at the Art Gallery of South Australia. AGSA has included ngaratya in Tarnanthi 2025 because of its artistic merit as a significant collective Barkandji/Barkindji project.

Save the date for the opening celebration on Tuesday 14 October from 4:30pm.

Image: Nici Cumpston, Barkandji people, Old Mutawintji Gorge I, from the series mirrimpilyi, happy and contented (detail), 2023, Adelaide, Kaurna Country, pigment inkjet print on Hahnemühle paper, hand coloured with PanPastel, crayon and pencil , 44 x 120 cm, Courtesy the artist and Michael Reid Gallery. Photo: Michael Haines 

Refurbishment and renewal

FUMA has exciting capital works on the horizon, including expanded collection stores, a new Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system and upgraded work areas with a new kitchenette. Largely unaltered since the late 1970s, these improvements to the fabric of FUMA will be transformative—enhancing the care of our collections, improving the work environment for our team and ensuring spaces are fit-for-purpose into the future.  With works commencing shortly, FUMA staff are busy preparing behind the scenes. Stay tuned for updates!

Image: FUMA storeroom. Photo: FUMA

Take 5: Edith Ray (1905–1989)

Discover the quietly modern vision of British artist Edith Ray in our latest Take 5. A painter, printmaker and teacher, Ray’s work reflects a thoughtful engagement with modernist ideas, capturing the atmosphere and structure of everyday landscapes in Britain and Europe. FUMA holds 36 of her works, gifted by long-time supporter Miss M. E. Wharmby, whose connection to Ray offers a fascinating story of friendship, travel and collecting.

Image: Edith Ray (1905–1989), Dinan, Brittany, c. 20^th century, wood engraving, ink on paper, 10.2 x 15.3 cm (image). Flinders University Museum of Art, 263. Gift of Miss M. E. Wharmby. © the estate of the artist.