Christian Thompson: Future Ancestor

August 18, 2026–January 10, 2027

Larry & Barbara Marshall Family Balcony

Color photograph of various green plants and white and red flowers with a face in the center and multiple hands covered in white lines protruding

Christian Thompson, The Fifth World, Courtesy of the artist

“No language is ever truly silent while even one word continues to be spoken.” 

With these words, Australian artist Christian Thompson challenges the idea that his heritage language of Bidjara—or any language—can ever truly disappear.

In Future Ancestor, Thompson creates a multimedia installation that weaves together history, language, and imagined futures. Blurring the boundaries between storytelling and visual culture, voice and gesture, Thompson’s artistic practice becomes a method of language preservation and cultural survival, allowing Bidjara to resonate across generations.

Christian Thompson (born 1978, Gawler, Australia) is an Australian artist whose work explores identity, cultural hybridity, and history. Thompson’s art incorporates photography, video, sculpture, performance, and sound. He was the first Aboriginal Australian to be admitted to the University of Oxford, earning a doctor of philosophy in fine art from Trinity College in 2015. In 2018, Thompson was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his distinguished service to the visual arts. 

Future Ancestor is organized by Curator for Global Indigenous Art and Lifeways Ryan Clasby and is supported by the Spencer’s Arts Research Integration program.