Artist Showcase | Alair Pambegan

Clan group: Winchanam
Language group: Wik-Mungkan

Alair Pambegan was born in 1966 in Aurukun, Queensland, where he continues to live and work today. Alair’s practice includes large-scale paintings on canvas and installation works made from milkwood painted with ochres and charcoal. His works are innovative interpretations of the ancestral stories handed down to him by his father.  

Alair has participated in solo and group exhibitions, including the 2018 and 2019 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, and the 2018 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. His work is represented in private and public collections including Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane; Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney; and National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.  

He is represented by Wik & Kugu Arts Centre, Aurukun, Queensland.

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First Nations Research Archive

Group Exhibition | Highlighted Works

Skinship: Collection in Focus
20 Sep - 30 Nov 2025

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Alair Pambegan, Bonefish Man & Dancing Spirit Man - Winchanam Ceremonial Dance, 2020, ochre and acrylic binders on linen, Courtesy of the artist and Wik & Kugu Arts Centre, Aurukun Alair Pambegan, Winchanam Clan Body Design, 2020, ochre and acrylic binders on linen, Purchased Cairns Art Gallery with the assistance of the Cairns Art Gallery Foundation, 2021 Commissioned Cairns Art Gallery

RITUAL: the past in the present
15 May – 21 Aug 2021

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RITUAL: the past in the present installation, Cairns Art Gallery 2021. Photography: Michael Marzik

 

 

Collection Works

Alair Pambegan, Bonefish Man & Dancing Spirit Man - Winchanam Ceremonial Dance, 2020, ochre and acrylic binders on linen, 152.0 x 102.0 cm, Purchased Cairns Art Gallery with the assistance of the Cairns Art Gallery Foundation, 2021 Commissioned Cairns Art Gallery Alair Pambegan, Winchanam Clan Body Design, 2020, ochre and acrylic binders on linen, Purchased Cairns Art Gallery with the assistance of the Cairns Art Gallery Foundation, 2021 Commissioned Cairns Art Gallery

 

Exhibition Catalogues

Ritual: the past in the present
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The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.

The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.