Today we’re tackling ceramics, fine jewellery and sculpture, looking at just some of the incredible Art Centres and artists who are not only masters in these fields, but innovatively push them to new creative heights…

August is an amazing time to be in the Top End, with a typical year hosting a number of significant Indigenous events running alongside the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair! While like DAAF, a number of these have shifted online in the face of COVID-19, there is still plenty to celebrate – whether it be digitally or in person…

Indigenous textiles hold deep meaning for artists and communities, standing as a medium that pushes the boundaries of contemporary First Nations culture. Today, there are more than 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Centres and women’s centres that produce textiles and fashion as a core part of their businesses, to national and international acclaim… Let’s catwalk!

We’re talking weaving, an incredibly expansive category, encompassing myriad traditional techniques passed down for millennia. It also features an amazingly diverse array of materials sourced on Country, from the palm-like pandanus plants of the north, to the tjanpi (grasses) of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Lands in the central desert, to discarded fishing nets and other marine debris, transformed by communities in Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait. This one’s a truly great yarn – let’s dive in!

Today, we’re talking carving, bark and woodwork. Work in this field is simply stunning, and sees practitioners taking on traditional making techniques that have been around for millennia, translating them into incredible contemporary works of art. Let’s carve it out.

We’re breaking things down practice by practice – looking at everything from painting to printmaking, weaving to wearable art – introducing you to some of the key regions, Art Centres and artists you can catch at the Fair, who are each true masters of these mediums. And what better way to kick off than with the practice of painting!

Today we’re visiting Groote Eylandt, off the coast of East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. The largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Groote Eylandt is home to Anindilyakwa Arts, a thriving Art Centre supporting Anindilyakwa artists from several communities, including Umbakumba, Angurugu and Milyuburra, to promote and sell their work…

Up in the North Eastern Torres Strait, surrounded by reefs and traditional stone fish traps, lies the island Erub (Darnley Island). Erub is home to a remote community of around 400 Erubam Le (that’s people in local Miriam Mer language). That might seem pretty small on first pass, but with the establishment of the internationally renowned Art Centre Erub Arts, this community certainly punches above its weight when it comes to preserving, promoting and continuing First Nations culture.