After 13 months of repairs, QUT Art Museum is ready to welcome back visitors on Monday, 16 February, with an exhibition that showcases three decades of work by Australian artist and Palawa woman Jemima Wyman.
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The basement-level gallery at Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point campus has been closed since late 2024, leaving Brisbane without access to one of the state’s premier visual arts institutions. Now, the museum is launching its return with Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface, a major survey exhibition by the Los Angeles-based artist.
The extended closure came after flash flooding struck south-east Queensland during wild storms in November and December 2024. The George Street building was flooded, damaging the gallery’s flooring at basement level.
A QUT spokesperson confirmed that no artworks were damaged during the flooding. The university has been working with insurers on the recovery.
The closure affected the institution significantly. QUT had already cancelled its 2025 exhibition program due to funding shortfalls before the flood damage occurred. The combination of financial constraints and storm damage affected several planned exhibitions, including a show by Bigambul artist Leah King-Smith that had been scheduled to run until March, as well as exhibitions featuring ceramicists Vipoo Srivilasa and the late Gwyn Hanssen Pigott.
A powerful return
For its reopening, the museum has chosen an exhibition that matches the significance of the moment. Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface brings together an extensive body of work spanning from the mid-1990s to today, offering visitors a comprehensive look at the artist’s evolution and ongoing investigations.
The exhibition pulls together diverse media including installation, video, performance, photography, collage and painting. According to information from QUT Galleries and Museums, Wyman’s practice explores politically charged themes including protest, camouflage, identity and collective action.
Visitors can expect explosive colour and intricate patterning throughout the show, with recurring motifs of smoke, masks and protest imagery woven through the works. These elements reflect Wyman’s ongoing investigations into collective organising, democracy and dissent.
The exhibition is accompanied by a newly released 200-page hardcover monograph, providing deeper context for Wyman’s practice. The publication features essays by curator Katherine Dionysius, Dr Chari Larsson and Dr Hanna Rose Shell, as well as a conversation between Wyman and Dr Yuval Etgar.
To complement the exhibition, an artist talk has been scheduled where Wyman will appear in conversation with curator Katherine Dionysius. The discussion will delve into the themes explored in Deep Surface, tracing how Wyman’s investigations into camouflage, democracy and dissent have developed over three decades.
Broader context
The museum’s struggles reflect wider challenges facing arts programs at QUT. The university is currently undertaking a broad review of its performing arts courses, citing ongoing declines in enrolments. This review has already resulted in QUT halting its dance student intake for 2025 as it determines the future of the well-regarded degree program.
Despite these institutional pressures, QUT Art Museum is reopening with a major exhibition surveying Wyman’s three-decade career. The timing also coincides with other QUT venues returning after the summer break, including Old Government House Museum and the William Robinson Gallery, both located in the grounds of the Gardens Point campus adjacent to the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.
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The free-to-visit museum has been closed for over a year, but its return offers Brisbane’s arts community and the broader public renewed access to one of Queensland’s premier cultural institutions.
Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface opens Monday, 16 February at QUT Art Museum, U Block basement level, 2 George Street, Brisbane.
Published 10-February-2026
