Old Way, New Road, a group exhibition of works by Indigenous Australian contemporary artists, opens at JGM Gallery in London in May, exploring the use of natural materials across cultural and artistic practices.

Bringing together artists from Arnhem Land, Melville Island, the Kimberley and Cape York, the exhibition focuses on how traditional materials — including ochre, feathers, ash, wood and plant fibres — are adapted from ceremonial and initiatory contexts into contemporary art. The result is a dialogue between past and present, where ancestral knowledge and techniques are reinterpreted through modern artistic expression.

Featuring both painting and sculpture, Old Way, New Road highlights the diversity of First Nations Australian practices. Works include natural ochre paintings on paper, carved sculptures and larrakitj (hollow log forms), reflecting distinct regional traditions and cultural narratives. Across the exhibition, artists explore how these materials continue to carry meaning — not only as artistic mediums, but as vessels of identity, memory and connection to Country.

The exhibition also draws attention to the ceremonial origins of many of these materials and forms, from body adornment practices to burial and ritual objects, offering insight into how these traditions are maintained and evolved within a contemporary context.

Pictured: Peggy Griffiths, Jinamoom, 2012, natural ochre on paper, 70cm x 89cm. Image courtesy of Benjamin Deakin.

Private View: Wednesday 6 May 2026, 6:30pm–8:30pm, RSVP to info@jgmgallery.com