AN artwork described as “a truly timeless work that represents millennia of continuous cultural practice by First Nations people in this country” has gone on show for the first time at the National Gallery.

Jonathan Jones’ installation “untitled (walam-wunga.galang)” was commissioned and supported by Wesfarmers Arts. It is, according to Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott,” a powerful symbol of the central role that First Nations art occupies in defining the contemporary face of Australia, both at home and to the world.”

The work was first seen at the Art Gallery of WA in 2021, then to the National Gallery, Singapore, in 2022 as part of the “Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia Touring Exhibition”.

Director Nick Mitzevich praised the gallery’s partnership with Wesfarmers Arts, saying that because of it they had been able engage a celebrated Wiradjuri artist to create a “new and meaningful work”.

Visitors will be greeted by nine monumental grindstones which are accompanied by an immersive soundscape in the Wiradjuri language.

The work celebrates the age-old, south-east cultural practice of collecting seeds, grinding them to make flour, to make bread, to feed families and Jones collaborated with Wiradjuri custodians Stan Grant Snr and Beatrice Murray to produce the soundscape. Jones has been for many years learning from and working with Grant, who is responsible for the revival of the Wiradjuri language.

NGA curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Tina Baum, says a grindstone believed to be 32,000 years old was unearthed in central NSW, but that as with most Aboriginal stories, this story has been displaced by Australia’s colonial narrative so this work by Jones, Grant and Murray is about “bringing those stories to light”.

Jonathan Jones’ “untitled (walam-wunga.galang)” is on display until July 23.