Djon Mundine

Djon Mundine OAM (born 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, curator, activist and writer. He is a member of the Bundjalung people of northern New South Wales. He is known for having conceived the 1988 work Aboriginal Memorial, on display at the National Gallery of Art in Canberra. Djon was born in Grafton, New South Wales in 1951. He was born 6th of 11 children to Roy Mundine and Olive Bridgette Mundine (nee Donovan). John's father Roy was a union stockman, and Olive's father had joined the first Indigenous Australian political party, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, in the 1920s. His family was very poor growing up, but he credits his father with encouraging the children to think: "I suppose you're not supposed to talk about sex and politics and religion at the table, but he'd get us to talk about whatever was in the papers." He is the elder brother of former politician Nyunggai Warren Mundine. His family later moved to Sydney in 1963, where he attended Marist Brothers schools in Auburn and Parramatta. He is a Wehbal man from the West Bundjalung nation, from the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. He is also a descendant of the Yuin people. Mundine spent his early life in South Grafton. He was exposed to the traditions of Aboriginal art and technique from a young age.