Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection

06/19/2026

Kluge-Ruhe has been nominated for two categories of this year's BEST of C-VILLE competition! Vote for us in the Art gallery AND Museum categories.

Cast your vote before June 30. https://bestof.c-ville.com/2026/entertainment

University of Virginia UVA Arts C-ville Weekly

06/19/2026

Kluge-Ruhe is closed today, Friday June 19 in honor of the Juneteenth holiday.

Today, we recognize Juneteenth, the day in 1865 on which enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally received news that they were free. Slavery had ended in the United States. As we reflect on the significance of this day, we celebrate the end of the institution of slavery in our country and the enduring contributions Black Americans have made to our progress and promise as a nation.

06/18/2026

After three years at Kluge-Ruhe, Manager of Education and Programs Jaimeson Daley has decided to embark on a new chapter. We gathered last week to bid him farewell. On behalf of Kluge-Ruhe staff and volunteers, thank you, we wish you well, and we will miss you, Jaimeson!

Need to get in touch with us about education or programming? Email [email protected]. Interested in working with us? Keep an eye out for the job posting announcement, coming soon!

University of Virginia UVA Arts

06/11/2026

In partnership with the Virginia Film Festival, we are pleased to present Country Arts SA’s award-winning First Nations Australian film showcase Nunga Screen for one night only, Tuesday July 7 at 7 pm at the Violet Crown Charlottesville. Proceeds from ticket sales for this screening will go to the filmmakers and the venue. Kluge-Ruhe director Nici Cumpston will give an introduction.

Now in its 15th year, Nunga Screen is a dynamic mix of short films from emerging and established creators presented annually between Reconciliation Week (May 27 to June 3) and NAIDOC Week (July 5 to 12). The screening lasts 1 hr and 30 min, with the first 45 min being appropriate for family audiences.

Purchase tickets: https://charlottesville.violetcrown.com/movie/nunga-screen-2026

University of Virginia UVA Arts The Virginia Film Festival

06/09/2026

Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni created the marriwiyi (pandanus grass skirt) for her exhibition at Kluge-Ruhe in response to the ancestor’s skirt dated before 1968 in the museum’s collection. She studied photographs of this old marriwiyi to partially replicate its unique material and style in her new marriwiyi, while also infusing it with her own design.

Instead of using pandanus to create cascading braids of fiber like in her previous skirts, she chose the less commonly used and more rigid material of stringy bark used in the pre-1968 marriwiyi. She then stitched this to her own distinctive design of a braided belt made of pandanus fibers dyed in shades of yellow, red, and orange. In replicating old techniques in her new work, Woody is pointing both to the cultural value of repetition as well as the impossibility of exact reproduction.

Both marriwiyis are on view in the exhibition "Ngiya Murrakupupuni amintiya Jilamara (My Country and Art)" through July 26.

Images
1. Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni collecting stringybark on Country. Photo by Emmy Monaghan.
2. Woody processing stringy bark. Photo by Emmy Monaghan.
3 & 4. Woody, "Marriwiyi (Pandanus Grass Skirt)," 2025, woven and dyed pandanus, jungle vine/sea hibiscus, and beeswax. Photos courtesy of the artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association.

University of Virginia UVA Arts Jilamara Creative Australia UVA Department of Art

06/05/2026

These gorgeous hand-printed lengths of cotton and linen fabric from Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association are available in our gift shop.

These pieces are perfect to add to your collection or to gift to the textile lover in your life. The green fabric printed with pink and black is by Tiwi artist Kaye Brown and is titled "Pwoja." The black, red and white fabric is by Tiwi artist Timothy Cook and is titled "Kulama."

University of Virginia UVA Arts

06/03/2026

Today is the final day of National Reconciliation Week in Australia, held annually from May 27 to June 3. These dates commemorate the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision, respectively.

Delivered on June 3, 1992, the High Court of Australia's landmark Mabo v Queensland (No 2) decision recognized that Indigenous Australians possess native title to their traditional lands. This historic ruling abolished the legal fiction of terra nullius (empty land) used to justify British colonization.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2026 is "All In.” The theme reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights is the responsibility of all Australians.

Learn more at www.reconciliation.org.au

At Kluge-Ruhe, our mission is to generate greater awareness of First Nations Australian art and cultures, and we know that art and culture are not divorced from the historic and current challenges faced by First Nations peoples in Australia and around the world. We strive to celebrate and promote the artists and communities we work with, as well as to educate our audiences about the issues that are of the greatest importance to these same artists and communities.

Image:
The campaign was created in collaboration with Carbon Creative, a First Nations-owned and operated marketing and creative agency. The artwork for this campaign is by Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung artist Otis Hope Carey.

University of Virginia UVA Arts Reconciliation Australia

05/31/2026

Join us on Wednesday June 10 at 2 pm for a talk by Shonae Hobson titled "How Indigenous Fashion Weaves Culture and Connections." The talk explores the intersections between Indigenous Australian art and contemporary fashion practices, foregrounding the pioneering work of Indigenous Australian designers and textile artists who use fashion to share their culture and ancestral knowledge.

The talk is free to attend. Please register to reserve your spot: https://kluge-ruhe.org/events/talk-with-shonae-hobson/

Shonae Hobson is a Southern Kaantju, Umpila, and Kuuku Ya’u woman from Coen, Cape York Peninsula, Australia. She is an independent curator and writer specializing in First Nations art, fashion, and design. Her curatorial practice foregrounds community-led storytelling. She is particularly interested in advancing the representation of Indigenous fashion and textiles within national and international museum contexts.

University of Virginia UVA Arts

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Djambawa Marawili AM, who has just received the Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Advocacy and Leadership in Creative Australia’s First Nations Arts and Culture Awards.

It has been our incredible privilege to collaborate with Djambawa Marawili over the years, to learn from him, and to help bring his vision for the landmark exhibition 'Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting form Yirrkala' to life.

1. Dr. Djambawa Marawili speaking at the Asia Society, New York for the opening of Madayin. Photo by Nick Tan, courtesy of the Asia Society.
2. Djambawa Marawili and Yinimala Gumana singing at the opening of Madayin at the Asia Society, New York. Photo by Nick Tan, courtesy of the Asia Society.
3. Djambawa Marawili at Kluge-Ruhe for his exhibition “where the water moves, where it rests” curated by Kimberley Moulton, 2015.
4. Djambawa Marawili and Waka Mununggurr with Kevin Gover, Under Secretary for Museums and Culture at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
5. Kade McDonald, Waka Mununggurr, Djambawa Marawili and Margo Smith speaking at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
6. Djambawa and Margo Smith at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, 2022.

University of Virginia UVA Arts Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Creative Australia

05/26/2026

Join us for the next Tots & Dots! Thursday, June 18 at 10 am.

Created for children ages 6 months to 4 years, this visual literacy program engages early learners (and their caregivers) in looking at and talking about art followed by a fun hands-on activity.

Learn more and register: https://kluge-ruhe.org/events/tots-dots-june-2026/

University of Virginia UVA Arts