Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are advised that this display features the names and images of deceased people.

The Forecourt mosaic at Parliament House is a symbolic reminder of the 65,000+ years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ presence in this country.

Explore the work of the five Aboriginal artists who were invited to submit designs for the mosaic. The artists played an important role in their communities and used their art to share their cultural knowledge with non-Indigenous peoples across the world.

In 1985, the artists flew to Canberra for an onsite design orientation. They were commissioned to produce a painting that would serve as the design for the 296 square metre mosaic. They submitted two paintings each using a designated colour palette which corresponded to available stone and mortar colours.

Michael Nelson Jagamara’s work known as Possum Wallaby Dreaming was subsequently selected as the design for the mosaic. In 1993, Mr Jagamara said ‘My painting for the mosaic in the Forecourt of Parliament House represent all the Indigenous people in this land, the wider Australia.’ 

All ten paintings that were part of the design submission stage are now held in the Parliament House Art Collection. A selection is on show on level one above the Marble Foyer in ‘Commissioning the Forecourt Mosaic’.

We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.

Images:
1. Maxie TJAMPITJINPA (Warlpiri people, c.1945-1997) Flying Ants at Willowra and Wantunguru, 1985
2. Michael Nelson Jagamara (1945–2020) Luritja/Warlpiri peoples, fabricated by William McIntosh, Aldo Rossi and Franco Colussi, Forecourt Mosaic Pavement, Parliament House Canberra (Possum and Wallaby Dreaming), 1986–1987. Over 90,000 granite setts on cement. Reproduced with permission of the Artist through the Aboriginal Artists’ Agency Ltd. Photograph courtesy of the Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra ACT. © The artist licensed by Aboriginal Artists’ Agency Ltd.