Artist, Darren Blackman, in conversation with Nickeema Williams, First Nations Art Assistant at RMOA in 2025.

Blackman's work is on display in State of the Art: Reimagining Queensland from 19 July - 12 October 2025.

The exhibition is an introspective and memory-honouring consideration of Queensland. Showcasing Queensland artists, it contests and explores the idea of the State in all of its conceptual and geographical character. Artists blur borders to clarify the meaning of Queensland through stories about people and places before and since colonisation. This diverse assembly of Queensland artists remind us of who and where we come from, and explore where we are going.

Featuring James Bourbon, Darren Blackman, Rachel Burke, Ruth Cho, Jamie Congdon, Ernest Garrett, Naomi Hobson, Seinileva Huakau, Tara Lewis, Noel McKenna, Wendy Mocke, Sally Molloy, Glen O’Malley, Teho Ropeyarn, Joel Sam, Clare Jaque Vasquez, Judy Watson, and Keemon Williams.

Co-curated by Robert Connell, Ashla Doherty, Melinda Mann, Jonathan McBurnie, Tessa McIntosh and Emily Wakeling.