Every August, when Darwin’s weather is at its balmiest, the city is transformed by two events: the Telstra National Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) held at the Museum, and the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) held at the Convention Centre.
Presented in consultation with the Larrakia people – on whose land the Convention Centre stands – the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair brings together artists, arts workers, collectors, gallerists, curators and Museum Directors from around Australia and around the world. And unlike most Art Fairs – where the stands are occupied by individual dealer galleries – at DAAF the stands are occupied by Art Centres located in remote Aboriginal communities.
Art Centres play a critical role in contemporary Aboriginal life. Not only do they support the sharing of cultural knowledge but also, in the face of poverty, racism and the ‘tyranny of distance’, they generate employment and financial returns for Aboriginal artists and their families.
DAAF is a head-rush of colour and crowds, artworks and artists, cultural performances and demonstrations. Museum-quality paintings are cheek-by-jowl with craft objects, canvases are piled on the floor, collectors queue for bubble-wrap at the packing booth, the cafés do a roaring trade, and the dress code is shorts and sunglasses.
Unceded
Installation view
DAAF is also one of Australia’s most important venues for the ‘business’ of Aboriginal art. Everyone who is anyone attends and Australia-wide friendships and relationships can be renewed without travelling vast distances. For me, flying in from New Zealand, the Fair is a great place to take the temperature of the Aboriginal art world and a terrific opportunity to reconnect with the Art Centres whose artists’ work I present in Auckland.
Alongside DAAF, and opening the same day, the NATSIA Awards Ceremony fills the lawns outside the Museum. It’s a family-friendly event with lights in the trees, blankets on the grass, live music, food trucks, beer stands, tropical warmth and a perfect pink-and-orange sunset over the Timor Sea.
On my most recent visit to DAAF it was notable during the speeches that the word “unceded” was used by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal speakers. “We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of the unceded lands on which we work, learn and live. We pay respect to Elders past, present and future.”
Sally Gabori
Dibirdibi Country
2011
synthetic polymere paint on linen
910mm H x 1210mm W
PRIVATE COLLECTION
For 65,000 years Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have maintained a connection to their lands. Connection to country is as vital to Aboriginal culture as it is to Māori in Aotearoa and, despite the failure of the Indigenous Voice Referendum in 2023, the battle for legal and moral recognition of ownership continues.
Curator Luke Scholes spoke for many in the audience at a recent NATSIAA ceremony when he said:
“Through your art, not just Australia but the world is listening.
We value your work, we acknowledge the difficulties in your lives, and we, like you, we wait … we wait for the day our nation comes to terms with what it means to be Australians.
Your art shows us a way.”
AUBREY TJANGALA
BESSIE PITJARA PURVIS
CLIFFORD THOMPSON
DHAMBIT #2 WANAMBI
DONALD FERGUSON
GAYPALANI WANAMBI
GORDON BARNEY
IGNATIA DJANGHARA
JONATHAN JONES
KUDDITJI KNGWARREYE
MABEL JULI
MANINI GUMANA
MARCUS (DOUBLE O) CAMPHOO
MARGARET DONEGAN
MARRNYULA MUNUNGGURR
MIRDIDINGKINGATHI JUWARNDA SALLY GABORI
NOŊGIRRŊA MARAWILI
NATHAN JAMES TJAMPITJINPA
PEGGY PATRICK
ROSIE NAMPITJINPA
SONIA BIRRTJILIMBI
SHANE DODD
UNKNOWN ANCESTOR
WANAPATI YUNUPIŊU
Photography by Kallan Macleod
Rosie Nampitjinpa
Untitled
2025
acrylic on canvas
490mm H x 405mm W (frame)
RN-2025-01
Marcus (Double O) Camphoo
Untitled
2022
acrylic on hessian
1815mm H x 1000mm W
MC-2022-01
Marcus (Double O) Camphoo
Untitled (detail)
2022
acrylic on hessian
1815mm H x 1000mm W
MC-2022-01
Marrnyula Munuŋgurr
Dhawurr
2025
earth pigments on Stringybark
415mm H x 275mm W
ON HOLD
Margaret Donegan
Wati Kutjara Wanampi
2025
acrylic on canvas
940mm h x 800mm W (frame)
MD-2025-01
Unceded
Installation view
Sonia Birrtjilimbi
Garrawurra Body Paint Design
2025
ochre on bark
320mm H x 240mm W
SB-2025-01
Sonia Birrtjilimbi
Milminydjarrk at Gärriyak (Sacred Waterholes)
2025
ochre on bark
350mm H x 370mm W
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Sonia Birrtjilimbi
Installation view
Unceded
Installation view
Marcus (Double O) Camphoo
Untitled
2025
acrylic on linen
800mm H x 600mm W
MC-2025-01
Gaypalani Wanambi
Dawurr
2025
incised aluminium / found road sign
720mm H x 470mm W
GW-2024-02
Gaypalani Wanambi
Dawurr (reverse view)
2024
incised aluminium / found road sign
720mm H x 470mm W
GW-2024-02
Wanapati Yunupiŋu
Gumatji fire Gurtha
2025
etched steel plate
455mm H x 300mm W
WY-2025-01
Marcus (Double O) Camphoo
Untitled
2024
acrylic on linen
1070mm H x 1060mm W
MC-2024-01
Donald Ferguson
Caterpillar Dreaming
2017
acrylic on canvas
1035mm H x 520mm W (frame)
DF-2017-01
Unceded
Installation view
Unceded
Installation view
Unknown Ancestor
Wandjina Spirit
early 20th C
natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
385mm H x 250mm W
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Ignatia Djanghara
Wandjina Spiril
c.1980
natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
520mm H x 290mm W
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Unceded
Installation view
Gordon Barney
Larnnganabany
2019
natural ochre and pigment on canvas
900mm H x 1200mm W
GB-2019-01
Unceded
Installation view
Mabel Juli
Rock Hole at Darrajayin (Springvale Station)
2016
natural ochre and pigment on canvas
475mm H x 465mm W (frame)
MJ-2016-02
Unceded
Installation view
Unceded
Installation view
Jonathan Jones
Untitled (Cook clouds) a, b, c (triptych)
2011
graphite and pencil on paper
1170mm H x 795mm W (each)
JJ2011-02
Jonathan Jones
Untitled (Cook clouds) a
2011
graphite and pencil on paper
1170mm H x 795mm W (frame)
JJ-2022-02
Jonathan Jones
Untitled (Cook clouds) b
2011
graphite and pencil on paper
1170mm H x 795mm W (frame)
JJ-2011-02
Jonathan Jones
Untitled (Cook clouds) c
2011
graphite and pencil on paper
1170mm H x 795mm W (frame)
JJ-2011-02
Unceded
Installation view
Unceded
Installation view
Noŋgirrŋa Marawili
Baratjala
2021
ochre, natural pigments, ink on paper
1080mm H x 800mm W (frame)
NM-2021-02
Noŋgirrŋa Marawili
Baratjala
2021
ochre, natural pigments, ink on paper
1080mm H x 800mm W (frame)
NM-2021-02
Bessie Pitjara Purvis
Arnwekety
2023
acrylic on linen
765mm H x 415mm W
BP-2023-01
Unceded
Installation
Nathan James Tjampitjinpa
Untitled
2024
acrylic on canvas
610mm H x 310mm W
NJT-2025-01
Aubrey Tjangala
Untitled
2024
acrylic on canvas
610mm H x 310mm W
AT-2024-01
Unceded
Installation view
Unceded
Installation view
Peggy Patrick
Jimbala Country
2008
natural ochre and pigment on board
1030mm H x 830mm W (frame)
PP-2008-02
Gaypalani Wanambi
Dawurr
2023
incised aluminium / found road sign
600mm H x 450mm W
GW-2023-05
Gaypalani Wanambi
Dawurr (reverse view)
2023
incised aluminium / found road sign
600mm H x 450mm W
GW-2023-05
Unceded
Installation view
Clifford Thompson
Family Gathering
2003
acrylic on canvas
1530mm H x 1830mm W
CT-2001-03
Shane Dodd
Pitulu Wai? (Any fuel?)
2025
found petrol cap
200mm H x 170mm W
SD-2025-01
Manini Gumana
Garraparra
2019
earth pigments on Stringybark hollow log
1970mm H x 190mm W
MG-2019-03
Manini Gumana
Garrapara (detail)
2019
earth pigments on Stringybark hollow log
1970mm H x 190mm W
MG-2019-03
Manini Gumana
Garrapara
2019
earth pigments on Stringybark hollow log
1870mm H x 210mm W
MG-2019-01
Manini Gumana
Garrapara (detail)
2019
earth pigments on Stringybark hollow log
1870mm H x 210mm W
MG-2019-01
Unceded
Installation view