Two museums buy the work of the Australia Pavilion that won the Golden Lion at the Biennale

Prime destination for Kith and kin, the work by Archie Moore (Toowoomba, 1970) that won the Australia Pavilion the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the Venice Biennale 2024. The work was in fact acquired by the Tate London in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. The acquisition is supported by Creative Australia and the Australian government, in a collaboration between the two museums that will ensure that the public can continue to see Moore’s work.

Kith and kin represents the vastness of Australia’s First Nations history: Moore has drawn a huge hand-drawn family tree on the walls of the Australian pavilion in white chalk, covering 65,000 years of history and 2,400 family generations. In the center, however, is a landscape composed of documents related to Aborigines who died during British rule: the work is intended to be a large memorial that not only highlights the fact that Australia’s original peoples have been among the most incarcerated in the world, but also wants to remind us of past and present injustices faced by First Nations peoples. The work is based on Moore’s (who himself is descended from the Kamilaroi and Bigambul peoples) enduring research into the history of Australia’s Aboriginal people developed over 30 years of art practice. “I am very grateful for this generous acquisition,” said Moore, "which will allow kith and kin to be seen both in Australia and abroad in the near and distant future."

The acquisition of Kith and kin is intended to reflect the Tate’s growing commitment to indigenous artists: indeed, the London museum is seeking to create a sea change in the number of contemporary artists from indigenous communities around the world whose work is represented in its galleries. This is a special acquisition: because it is a huge installation, the two museums, rather than the material work itself, have acquired rights and instructions for it, so Kith and kin will be able to coexist simultaneously at both the Tate and the Queensland Art Gallery (where it can be seen from the summer of 2025).

"Archie Moore’sKith and kin," said Maria Balshaw, director of the Tate, “is a highly personal and political work, and offers a powerful meditation on the interconnectedness of humanity going back to ancient times. Sharing this great work with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art also reflects the increasingly strong ties between Tate and our fellow art museums in Australia. I am very grateful to Creative Australia and all our friends and colleagues in the region who have helped these relationships blossom.”

"Meeting Archie Moore’s Kith and kin at the Venice Biennale was a spectacular and moving experience that resonated with the weight of history and lineage," says Chris Saines, director of the Queensland Art Gallery. "In his unimaginable attempt to map a personal genealogy across more than two thousand generations, Moore has evoked an extraordinary image of human connection across deep time. Kith and kin has that rare power to silence and reflect. We are deeply grateful to be the joint custodians of this historic work and look forward to showing the project, curated by Queensland Art Gallery’s curator of Australian contemporary art, Ellie Buttrose, in Brisbane from August 2025."

Two museums buy the work of the Australia Pavilion that won the Golden Lion at the Biennale

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