The 38th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) — Australia’s longest-running and most prestigious Indigenous art awards — will run from 7 August 2021 to 6 February 2022, showcasing the best in Australian Indigenous art by contemporary artists.
In 2021, Telstra NATSIAA will see sees an increasing variety of art forms and media, collectively demonstrating the richness and diversity of current contemporary Indigenous artistic practice, and the pre-eminence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, nationwide, within the visual arts.
Of the 65 finalists — selected from 248 entries — 34 are from the Northern Territory, 14 from WA, 9 from SA and4 from Queensland, including one Torres Strait Islander artist. 14 of the artworks are by emerging artists.
Featured in this year’s lineup of captivating creatives are artists such as Quandamooka woman Elisa Jane Carmichael — a multidisciplinary artist who honours her salt-water heritage by incorporating materials collected from Country, embracing traditional techniques, and expressing contemporary adaptations through painting, weaving, and textiles.
Using weaving, dyeing and image creating techniques, Carmichael’s art continues the artist’s journey of returning Quandamooka practices to ensure traditions are visible for generations to come.
Thea Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon artist working in painting and installation. who last year won both the Dreaming Award for emerging artists at the First Nations Arts Awards and the Alice Prize, and was a finalist in the Archibald Prize.
Another finalist is Kyra Mancktelow — a Quandamooka, Nughi woman of Moorgumpin, or Moreton Island.
An emerging artist, her work traverses painting, print work and sculpturing. Her Telstra NATSIAA artwork investigates victims of the Myora mission, located on Minjerribah. The work focuses on the uniforms work by the children to assimilate under a strict missionary regime from in the late 1800s.
The exhibition will run from 7 August 2021 to 6 February 2022 at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in Darwin, with the virtual exhibition available for viewing online.
For more information, visit www.magnt.net.au/natsiaa.
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