Australia’s first major museum survey honours the collective power of Pitcha Makin Fellas

The first major survey exhibition of Ballarat-based First Nations collective Pitcha Makin Fellas will be unveiled at Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA from 10 October to 5 December 2026, celebrating more than a decade of collaborative practice that has shaped conversations around community, identity and contemporary Aboriginal art.

In a first for MUMA, the collective’s studio - located in a former post office - on Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung country, Ballarat, in regional Victoria, will be recreated within the exhibition. The installation will offer visitors insight into and an experience of the conversations, collaboration, and collective authorship that underpin every aspect of the group’s practice.

Bringing together major works from the past decade alongside a new commission, A Long Time Coming, Not Done Yet recognises one of Australia’s most distinctive community-led artistic practices. The exhibition reflects MUMA’s long-standing relationship with the collective through exhibitions, education and research.

Curated by MUMA Curator – Indigenous, Amanda Haskard (Gunaikurnai), with Pitcha Makin Fellas, the exhibition transforms the museum into a studio where making, storytelling, and conversation sit alongside paintings spanning the collective's 13-year career.    

Pitcha Makin Fellas said:

“We’ve never set out to make art just to hang on walls. We make work because we’ve got stories to tell, things to say and because being together matters. The studio is where we yarn, laugh, argue, remember and support each other. That’s where the work begins.”

“This exhibition is about showing people how we work together and why that matters. If people walk away thinking differently about community, Country or each other - and maybe have a laugh along the way - then we’ve done our job.”

Dr Rebecca Coates, Director of Monash University Museum of Art, said the exhibition reflects years of collaboration between the Fellas and MUMA, built on trust, listening and shared learning.

“The Fellas’ practice demonstrates how art can simultaneously be a vehicle for protest, healing, education and celebration, while creating space for humour, generosity and shared conversations.”

“This exhibition builds on years of collaboration between MUMA and the collective and honours a practice that continues to shape conversations around Country, identity, community and the enduring strength of First Nations cultures. We are incredibly proud to share their remarkable artistic achievements with audiences through this landmark exhibition.”

The exhibition builds on a relationship that began in 2022 when Pitcha Makin Fellas exhibited in MUMA’s Collective Movements, creating the acclaimed triptych Why Don’t Whitefellas Like Trees?, which subsequently entered the Monash University Collection.

Since then, the collective has collaborated with MUMA across award-winning education initiatives including Learning with the Land: Learning with Respect and artist residencies with Melbourne Indigenous Transition School, sharing cultural knowledge, creativity and lived experience with new generations of learners.

Founded in 2013, Pitcha Makin Fellas has developed a distinctive collaborative practice grounded in humour, resistance and cultural continuity. Their now-iconic handmade stamp paintings transform humble materials into bold, visually arresting works that confront racism, celebrate cultural survival and speak to the realities of contemporary Aboriginal life.

Working collectively, the artists create works that are at once politically incisive and deeply generous, inviting audiences into conversations about Country, identity, belonging and self-determination without ever losing their characteristic wit.

Amanda Haskard (Gunaikurani), MUMA Curator – Indigenous, said the exhibition acknowledges a practice whose significance extends well beyond the gallery.

"Pitcha Makin Fellas have built an extraordinary body of work over more than a decade. One that is deeply embedded in community, grounded in lived experience and unapologetically Blak.”

“Through their collective practice, the Fellas show how storytelling, humour, and collective strength help preserve culture. For them, artmaking is deeply communal, fostering connection, healing, and advocacy. The exhibition is both a tribute to Country and community and a powerful protest against ongoing injustice."

Spanning early works through to new commissions, the exhibition positions the collective’s practice as both an artistic and social force. Highlights include a new commission responding to Treaty in Victoria, the first Australian jurisdiction to legislate a Treaty process with First Peoples, alongside significant works including Why Don’t Whitefellas Like Trees? (2022), inspired by the Djab Wurrung community’s resistance to the destruction of culturally significant trees in Western Victoria.

Other works examine racism in everyday life, from sporting fields to community spaces, while sculptural installations reinterpret historical objects such as breastplates to challenge colonial histories and assert contemporary First Nations perspectives.

Accompanying the exhibition is an artist-led publication featuring new writing by curator, writer and activist Djon Mundine OAM, alongside a public program of talks and community events including MUMA Film: Blak Film – First Nations shorts on 5 October.

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact:
Rhiannon Broomfield
Rhiannon@rhiannonbroomfieldcommunications.com
0410 596 021

Exhibition
Pitcha Makin Fellas:  A Long Time Coming, Not Done Yet
10 October – 5 December 2026

Opening
Saturday 10 October, 3pm

Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Naarm/Melbourne
Curated by Amanda Haskard (Gunaikurnai)

_{Image: Pitcha Makin Fellas, Blackmanland The Fellas Coat of Arms, 2015}