The entry hall at the Art Gallery of New South Wales is lined with portraits of First Nations women. No explanation is given on the plaque for Brenda L Croft’s Naabami (thou shall/will see): Barangaroo (army of me) (2019-22). It needs none. Hanging beside the entrances to the AGNSW’s Grand Courts – a series of galleries that have long been a home for “high” European and Australian art – Croft’s photographs are striking statements of First Nations presence.
If one needs a more pointed directive, they only have to turn their head to the opposite wall and see Abdul Abdullah’s painting Decisions (2022), which broadcasts the words “Have a think about it”.
