Collection on the move: Fiona Foley’s 'Janjari' heads to WA

Hervey Bay Regional Gallery is proud to announce that Fiona Foley’s video work Janjari will be presented in Place Makers at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, from 27 September to 6 December 2025.

Place Makers draws attention to the work of four exceptional artists whose work is grounded in relationships of place and community: Fiona Foley, Gladys Milroy, Margaret Morgan and Edith Trethowan.⁠

Created by internationally renowned Badtjala/Butchulla artist Dr Fiona Foley, Janjari holds a significant place in the HBRG Collection as the gallery's first acquisitive commission, debuting alongside Foley's survey exhibition Veiled Paradise in December 2022.

Foley’s work is deeply rooted in her ancestral connection to K’gari, a location that holds ongoing cultural, spiritual and environmental significance for Badtjala people. Janjari includes imagery alluding to K’gari’s creation story, featuring Yindingie (carpet snake) who formed the landscape of Butchulla country from the island to the western boundary of Mount Bauple. The work offers a powerful reflection on identity, history and place, and has become much-loved by Fraser Coast locals and visitors after its semi-permanent display at HBRG.

Through loans to other leading galleries Janjari continues to carry Badtjala/Butchulla stories across the country. Since entering the collection, the film has been shown as part of the launch exhibition of the Courthouse Gallery in Cairns and was featured in the University of Queensland Art Museum’s 2024 exhibition Dusk of Nations, which attracted more than 23,000 visitors.

Its upcoming presentation in Perth extends the reach of the HBRG Collection to the west coast, sharing a significant local story by an esteemed artist from the region with an even wider audience. 

As the Hervey Bay Regional Gallery Collection grows we look forward to sharing more of the diverse collection with visitors in Hervey Bay and further afield through our off-site partners. 


Janjari was commissioned and funded by Hervey Bay Regional Gallery. Additional support from the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), a partnership between the Queensland Government and Fraser Coast Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.