But the material elements to Certain Realities, like a shirt that reads 'I went to this massacre site and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt!', are also confronting and thought-provoking.

That slogan and more in Archie Moore's work Shirtfront, a phrase he borrowed from former PM Tony Abbott, are metaphors for "the failure of reconciliation" for Indigenous Australians.

"These kind of words have a psychological effect on you," he said.

"One shirt is a photo of my body which more literally expresses the motif ... you could put this on, but you won't be me."

The shirts, which play on comments that have been made to Moore and popular T-Shirts like the "This is Australia" design, build on wooden crosses and ghost-like installations in the museum's foyer.

"Aboriginal people saw Europeans as their dead relatives returning, or some type of spiritual being ... the 'white devil' was one of the names used," he said.

"There's a cross on the floor which represents claiming a place - X marks the spot on a map - and also a sign for elimination, of crossing something out and replacing it with something else."

Moore, a Kamilaroi man, is one of seven artists who feature in Certain Realities which "considers the social impact of cultural tension".

Four were present at an artist's talk on Saturday, including Spence Messih, whose sculptures hide words in their design.

The Sydney-based artist was asked about the use of purple in the works, which feature sand and glass.

"Purple is a traditionally spiritual colour and on the rainbow flag the purple stands for spirit," Messih said.

"Being trans(gender) is a spiritual thing ... to be so close to your body and mind.

"For me this work is largely about being aware of your body."

Messih will present a group reading on October 26, as one of a number of interactive events happening.

It's the first time MAMA has had a performance-based show, and Lizzie Thomson and Brain Fuata both presented at Friday night's opening.

In August, Fuata ran a full-page ad in The Border Mail asking men sharing his name to contact him.

That correspondence with six Brians of Albury inform his five performances.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Broadloom builds off Fuata's practise of improvising objects, tasks or events, and responding to them.

Thomson's two-part piece Inside Inside, relating to self-censorship, will conclude as the exhibition wraps up in November.

Curator Michael Moran told the group on Saturday it was a special collaboration between artists.

"Archie has a very well-earned reputation ... these things exist even if we deny their existence," he said.

"Spencer's work has a really beautiful material quality where it perhaps doesn't hit you straight away, but work after work, it continues to build your feelings.

"It was a wonderful thing on Friday to see in a crowd of 60, 70 people that many had never seen the kind of work Lizzie was performing.

"We're really proud of it."

The other works include Isadora Vaughan's beeswax screens, prototypes of the Mexico border wall by Tony Schwensen, and Anna Kristensen's photo-realist paintings.