Forget about European works in the National Gallery of Australia, the newest exhibition Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia shows clearly that its strength is in the art made in this country, by our own First People.

One of the most stunning shows ever seen at the gallery and one of the biggest, with 260 artworks on show, it opens to the public on Saturday.

Many of the knockout art works are enormous, and range from traditional barks to the edgiest contemporary art, often with an acidic satirical edge, such as Tony Albert’s three-dimensional installation of ashtrays, Ash On Me.

But some are more modest in scale, such as the watercolour paintings by Albert Namatjira, or Esme Timbery’s Sydney Harbour Bridge, made from tiny seashells.

This is an eye-pleasing exhibition, with colourful paintings that leave Gauguin in the shade, organised under six themes, including Ancestors + Creators, Resistance + Colonisation and Community + Family.

There’s a lot of fun too, as with a new acquisition from Dharug artist Billy Bain, Dog Walker Plan B, 2023 – “a powerful and witty work”, NGA director Nick Mitzevich said to the artist, who was present.

Although this Canberra version of the show has been substantially augmented with works that curator Tina Baum said were large to travel, Ever Present has been seen at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the National Gallery in Singapore and, and the Art Gallery of WA.

The latter is particularly significant because many of the artworks originate from the Wesfarmers art collection in Perth, the NGA’s longstanding Indigenous Arts partner, Wesfarmers Arts, with whom it recently announced a new six-year, $4 million partnership.

In Singapore, Baum, told CityNews, there had been an extensive round of workshops and adjunct events, including a performance by dancers from Makassar, responding in dance to some of the paintings. “We had so much fun there,” Baum said.

On Thursday, surrounded by huge paintings, Mitzevich announced that Baum had been newly promoted to the role of senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, before a sneak preview of the show in what amounted to a victory run.

Ever Present had successfully introduced Australian First Nations culture to the people of NZ and Singapore, he said, and would also now be likely to “elevate our understanding of First Nations art”.

Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, September 14-August 24. Free.