JUNO GEMES
Born: 1944 Budapest, Hungary
EDUCATION & FELLOWSHIPS
2020–2021 Recipient of a Create NSW Arts and Cultural Funding Program Individual Visual Arts Grant to develop Autobiographical Elements, an installation of field diaries, campsite objects and gifts received while living and working with Aboriginal communities, reflecting the photographer's life and relationships in the field
2020 Awarded the People's Choice Award for PORTRAIT, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, Texas, USA, curated by Elizabeth Avedon.
2015 Hidden Histories, The Kristen Peterson Speaker Series, Fine and Performing Arts, St Louis University, USA
2014 Fellow of Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
2014 Speaker, Photography and Anthropology Conference, British Museum, London
1998 Grant from Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait, Islander Studies (Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies) with Frances Peters Little - Aboriginal Peoples around Walgett, North West NSW
1994 Senior Fellowship from Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies to document and create database for her photographic archive with Aboriginal Peoples and Communities: ‘In Our Time - Photographs & Texts from the Movement 1969-1994’
1985 Freeland Committee Australian Journalists Association
1985 Aboriginal Arts Board Grant to establish Koori Photography Workshops at The Tin Sheds, Sydney University
1979 Workshop ‘Incontra Personale’ with photographer Lisette Model, La Fotografi Venice, International Center for Photography
1978 Arts Council of Great Britain Grant to attend Oxford Photographic Workshop with photographer Aaron Siskind (U.S.A.) David Hurn (UK), Oxford UK
1979 Workshop ‘Incontra Personale’ with photographer Lisette Model, La Fotografi Venice, International Center for Photography
1964 National Institute of Dramataic Art Graduate
EXHIBITIONS—SOLO
2025 Juno Gemes & Robert Adamson on the Hawkesbury River, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney
2019 Juno Gemes: The Quiet Activist – A Survey Exhibition 1979–2019, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, curated by Rhonda Davis and Kate Hargraves, 10 May – 28 June, presented as part of the Head On Photo Festival
2016 Evidence: 40 Years of Dance Activism, NAISDA Arthouse Theatre, Wyong, commissioned by Kim Walker
2015 Up Close (with Michael Aird and Jo-Anne Driessens) FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane
2015 Hidden Histories Puix X11 Library, Fine and Performing Arts, St Louis University, Missouri USA
2015 Spirit Maps, Manning Clark House, Canberra
2012 Evidence, exhibition for NAISDA, Mt Penang Parkway
2010 Sacred Ground – Uluru Kata Tjuta Culture Centre, Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, NT
2009 The Photography Book Show 1- An Intimate Experience curated by Juno Gemes, Ballarat Art Gallery, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale
2008 Clear Water Reckoning, Freeland Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
2006 Proof: Portrais from The Movement 1978 – 2003 on tour Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Queensland; Kulge-Ruhe Aboriginal art Collection, University of Virginia, USA; Wollongong Art Gallery, New South Wales; Darwin Arts Festival, Northern Territory
2005 Proof: Portraits from The Movement 1978 – 2003 on tour Moree Plains Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales; South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia
2004 Proof: Portraits from The Movement 1978 – 2003, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
2003 Proof: Portraits from The Movement 1978 – 2003, National Portrait Gallery Commonwealth Place, Canberra
2000 Where the sacred fish come in, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
1999 Similarcrum Trinity College, Cambridge, UK
1998 Photographs from “The Warp”, ICA London 1978 The Albany Arts Centre, London
1995 Personal Mythologies, New South Wales Writers Centre, Sydney
1994 Clearwater Reckoning: Art in Public Spaces, The Oyster Bar, Sydney
1994 Personal Mythologies, Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney
1993 Spring Solstice Brooklyn Memorial Hall, Brooklyn, New South Wales
1989 Under Another Sky, Australian Embassy, Paris
1988 Under Another Sky, Palais des Expositions Muscarnok, the National Gallery of Hungary, Budapest
1983 Hostel Life, commissioned by Aboriginal Hostels Ltd, Canberra, for NAIDOC Week, Woden Plaza, Australian Capital Territory
1982 We Wait No More, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney; Bitumen River Gallery, Manuka, Australian Capital Territory
EXHIBITIONS—GROUP (SELECTED)
2025–2026 1988: The Long March for Justice, Hope and Freedom, La Perouse Museum, Sydney, curated by Blake Griffiths (September 2025 – February 2026).
2025 No Control: Four Documentary Photographers, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, featuring Effy Alexakis, Emmanuel Angelicas, Juno Gemes and Mick Richards, curated by Kon Gouriotis.
2025 Protest Is a Creative Act, Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne, curated by Kelly Gellatly.
2024 Voice and Identity, Art Atrium, Sydney, curated by Simon Chan.
2024 Femme Maison: Imagined Boundaries, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, curated by Rhonda Davis, Leonard Janiszewski and Miguel Olmo.
2023 Olive Cotton Award, Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah.
2023 The Power of Creativity – My Horizon Line, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, Sydney, curated by Bronwyn Bancroft.
2023 Hill End Analogue, curated by Bill Mosley, featuring Anthony Browell, Victoria Cooper, Chris Dingle, Sandy Edwards, Juno Gemes, Lisa Sharkey, Peter Solness and Doug Spowart.
2023 Aboriginal Housing Company: 40th Anniversary Exhibition, curated by Kyra Kum Sing.
2022 10th Anniversary Exhibition, New York Center for Photographic Art, curated by Elizabeth Avedon.
2022 May Their Memory Be a Blessing, with Anne Zahalka, Hidden Rookwood Sculptures, Sydney.
2022 Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium, Sydney, curated by Simon Chan.
2021 ADDON, Head On Photo Festival, curated by Charles McKean.
2021 Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium, Sydney, curated by Simon Chan.
2020 Pub Rock, National Portrait Gallery and Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, curated by Penny Grist.
2020 Portraits, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, Texas, USA, curated by Elizabeth Avedon.
2019 Unfinished Business: Apmira Artists for Land Rights, Art Gallery of New South Wales Library, Sydney, curated by Eva Chaloupka.
2019 Three Women in Country, Maunsell Wickes Gallery, Sydney, featuring Juno Gemes, Judith Crispin and Ana Pollak.
2019 Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium, Sydney, curated by Simon Chan.
2019 Queens Land: Blak Portraiture, Cairns Art Gallery, curated by Djon Mundine.
2019 PORTRAIT, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, Texas, USA, curated by Elizabeth Avedon. Winner, People's Choice Award.
2019 Lionel Fogarty Leads an Illegal March, Queensland Performing Arts Centre Museum, Brisbane.
2019 Paper Tigers, National Art School, Darlinghurst, Sydney, curated by Toby Creswell and Lesa Bell Furhagen.
2018 Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium, Sydney, curated by Simon Chan.
2018 Queensland Blak Portraiture, Cairns Art Gallery, curated by Djon Mundine.
2018 Museum of Love and Protest, National Art School, Sydney, curated by Susan Charlton.
2018 Express Yourself, National Portrait Gallery.
2018 Empire, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, curated by Rhonda Davis. 2018 Diversity, Head On Photo Festival, Art Atrium, Surry Hills, Sydney.
2015 Up Close with Michael Aird and Jo-Anne Driessens FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane
2014 Up Close with Michael Aird : Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London UK
2014 Art & Science Aku Kadogo + Juno Gemes MOCAD Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit USA
2014 NEXT : New Photographic Visions curated by Elizabeth Avedon, Castell Photography Gallery, 2c Wilson Alley Ashville , North Carolina USA
2014 10x 8 Gallery, Central Broadway Sydney
2013 First Ladies – The National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
2013 Picturing Compassion Curated by Juno Gemes & Dean Sewell, Sydney Town Hall, Melbourne Convention Centre During the visit of His Holiness Dali Lama
2013 Unbound Macquarie University Art Gallery
2013 Elvis in Goulburn - South Hill Gallery, Goulbourn
2012 The National Black Theatre –directed by Darlene Johnson ABC Messenger Stick photographs from Juno Gemes Archive
2012 I Am Eora by Wesley Enoch photographs for production
2012 Carriage Works, The National Black Theatre
2012 Evidence, NAISDA - Mt Penang Parkway, NSW- permanent exhibition Commissioned by Kim Walker Director of NAISDA
2012 State of Emergency - Kuril Dhagun, State Library of Queensland
2012 Sixties Explosion – Time Machine : Collective Memory, Macquarie University Art Gallery
2010 Candid Camera - Australian Photography 1950s - 1970s Art Gallery of South Australia curated by Julie Robertson
2009 Big Black Heart Curated by John Tran - Artspace Tsukuba University Japan - September 15 – October 15
2009 The Photography Book Show curated by Juno Gemes Ballarat Art Gallery Ballarat International Photography Festival Ballarat Victoria
2009 One Black Heart – Juno Gemes The University of Tsukuba, Artspace Gallery, Japan
2008 Clear Water Reckoning Freeland Gallery Paddington, Sydney
2008 The River Show Sara Roney Gallery
2008 Olive Cotton Photography Prize Tweed Heads Regional Art Gallery
2007 - 2008 Cuisine & Country curated by Gavin Wilson – touring exhibition, Australia
2006 Our Community National Museum of Australia touring exhibition Walgatt RSL, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
2006 Head On Australian Photographers Gallery, Balmain
2005 Australian Photographers – Director’s Choice Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney
2005 Berowra Visions: Margaret Preston & Beyond Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
2005 Our Community: a great place to be National Museum of Australia, Canberra
2004 Blake Prize Sir Herman Black Gallery, Sydney
2003 Larrikins in London Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
2002 Iconographia collaboration with Culture Lab, Dakar Biennale, Africa
2002 Native Title Business Queensland Museum, Brisbane
2001 Eternity – Stories from the Emotional Heart of Australia National Museum of Australia, Canberra
2000 Mum Shirl Tribute Exhibition Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative, Sydney
1995 Beyond the Picket Fence National Library of Australia, Canberra
1994 Commitments Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; Artspace, Sydney; Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra
1991 The Intimate Experience: Selected Australian Woman Artists’ Images of Women 1946-1994 Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1990 The Yellow House Art Gallery of New South Wales
1989 The Image Black curated by Tracey Moffatt, Department of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
1988 A Changing Relationship SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney
1986 - 1989 Aboriginal Australia (permanent exhibition) The Australian Museum, Sydney
1985 Invasions – The Struggle of Indigenous Peoples Commonwealth Institute, London
1983 The Year of the Tree Art Gallery of New South Wales
1982 The Lady Fairfax Prize Art Gallery of New South Wales
1982 Apmira – Artists for Aboriginal Land Rights Paddington Town Hall, Sydney
1982 After the Tent Embassy The Australian Centre for Photography, National Tour
1981 The Corner Shop Picture Show curated by Juno Gemes
1981 Lovely Motherhood Show Experimental Arts Foundation, Adelaide
1978 The Warp ICA Institute of Contemporary Art, London
PUBLISHED WORKS
Enduring Civilisations Gayle Sculthorpe British Museum ( 2015)
Three Suns I Saw A life in Letters Manfred Jurgensen
Witnessing the Apology (2008) photo essay by Juno Gemes featured in Heat, Aboriginal Studies Journal, and The Good Weekend
The Companion The National Portrait Gallery
Proof Portraits from The Movement (2003) Juno Gemes, Essays Andrew Sayers, Frances Peters-Little, Barry Hill, a NPG + Macquarie University Art Gallery publication
The Companion The National Portrait Gallery
The Language of Oysters – Photographs by Juno Gemes, Poems by Robert Adamson (1992) a Craftsman House publication
AWARDS & COMMISSIONS
2015 Portrait of His Holiness The Dalai Lama - The Monthly
2010 Photographer in residence, Ubud Writers Festival
2009 Photographer in Residence - Sydney Writers Festival - The Light Room
2006 Gulf Biennale Festival Mornington Island
1982 Hostel Life - Aboriginal Hostels Limited
COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne
Australian Museum, Sydney
Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney
Brett Whiteley Studio, Sydney
Churchill College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Lord Gowrie Collection, Wales, United Kingdom
Lucid Foundation, San Francisco, California, USA
Macquarie University Art Collection, Sydney
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Library of Australia, Canberra
National Museum of Australia, Canberra
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, New South Wales
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Queensland Museum, Brisbane
South Australian Museum, Adelaide
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Private collections throughout Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
