A new exhibition, Funerea Procession, by Alastair Mooney opens at the Jim Mooney Gallery at the end of the month.
Opening Event: Saturday, 30 May 2026, 11:00am
Jim Mooney Gallery, Macquarie Street, George Town
The exhibition opens with an artist talk, offering audiences the opportunity to connect directly with the ideas behind the work. All are welcome.
Presented as part of the Creative George Town program, bringing contemporary art from across Tasmania to the region and supporting meaningful connections between artists, audiences, and place.
This exhibition runs until Saturday, 11 July 2026.
From the artist:
“I remember as a child being told that if you saw a group of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos flying east, it meant it was going to rain, and the number of birds you counted denoted how many days it would rain for. It was beautiful and simple.
As I grew and garnered more knowledge of the world, that myth was dispelled. A young adult can feel they know everything about the world, and the literal belief in this folkloric tale was absurd. But I continued to grow and learn. I discovered that versions of this story have been told for millennia, and that this bird holds great cultural significance for many First Nations peoples of this land. Its distinct call signals important shifts in the environment and weather. It is a messenger who can bring guidance in difficult times, or appear as a warning. It is a symbol of change, and my changing understanding of it is an allegory for understanding the change in myself.
Presenting these cockatoos as a child’s mobile evokes a strong sense of nostalgia, a fascinating phenomenon. As the world becomes less simple, it’s easy to see why yearning for the past with a rosy retrospection is so common. Nostalgia is an emotional safety blanket used to cope with the bleakness of the present, but it is not a yearning for a simpler time, it is a yearning for a simpler version of yourself. This again illustrates change in oneself, but it also highlights a darker element of nostalgic thinking. While ignorance as a child is bliss, a wish to relinquish responsibility and choose ignorance as an adult is dangerous.
The title Funerea Procession is a play on words. The binomial name of the yellow-tailed black cockatoo is Zanda funerea, described by English naturalist George Shaw in 1794, with the specific name funerea referring to its dark and sombre plumage, as if dressed for a funeral. Juxtaposing this morbid imagery with the innocent aesthetic of a child’s mobile calls into question what type of change this flock is symbolising. Will it be a change in the present for a brighter future, or fifty days of rain?”
