Learn about Indigenous art and culture at DAAF. Vital links are made to the outright recognition of Indigenous Australians as the First people of this land.
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The very first footprints on this continent were those belonging to First Nations peoples.
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D A A F
6 – 14 August
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4th Annual Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair
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The new online platform will connect Arts Centres with art buyers while creating wider community awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in innovative ways. Online exhibition portals will be included on the DAAF website to enable Art Centres to showcase and sell their artists’ work.
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Normally…
The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) is held every year in Darwin, on Larrakia Country, bringing together artists and arts lovers in a shared passion for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander contemporary fine art.
But not this year
Like so many other cultural events around the world, we’re going digital in 2020, to harness this opportunity to host DAAF in an online format and bring our Art Fair to local and international audiences.
Our new digital platform will enable anyone, anywhere to ethically purchase a diverse range of artwork direct from Indigenous-owned Art Centres from across Australia.
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So this year, let us bring the Art Fair to you!
With a rich and excitingPublic Program carefully designed for online delivery, the digital Art Fair will be held over 10 days, from 6-14 August 2020.
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Featured image: Anwar Young of Tjala Arts with Kulata and Miru, near Amata, APY Lands, SA. 2018. Photograph by Rohan Thompson. Courtesy of APY Art Centre Collective.
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Where are we?
Head as north as the vast Northern Territory will take you and you’ll find yourself in the flourishing Top End. Here you’ll find the Northern Territory’s capital, Darwin (also home to DAAF!).
To the east is spectacular Arnhem Land, one of Australia’s last true Aboriginal owned wilderness areas comprising 90,000 square kilometres of reserve.
Off the coast lie a number of islands hosting dynamic artistic and cultural communities, including the Tiwi Islands (Bathurst Island and Melville Island)…Milingimbi Island and Groote Eylandt…There is a significant number of Art Centres (well over 20!) that operate in this area…
Traditional practice, language, and ceremony is still incredibly strong and at the forefront of life in this region.
The geographical diversity of the Top End, Arnhem Land and Tiwi Islands is reflected in the cultural diversity of the myriad remote Indigenous communities that call it home.
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Perhaps most importantly, Art Centres provide a gateway to explore, understand, buy, share and exhibit Indigenous art. When you buy an artwork from a reputable Art Centre, you know those funds going back to the artist, with a small portion is invested back into the Centre for operational costs and community programs.
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courtesy the Artist and Milingimbi Art and Culture.
Connecting to Country, From our Home to Yours is your region-by-region guide to some of the most dynamic Art Centres and incredible artists working in Indigenous communities across the country.
Text: Camilla Wagstaff
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Where are we?
The Western Desert and Kimberley regions encompass the immense Western third of the country. Comprising mostly arid bush that hums with red sands and yellow suns, you’ll find fertile pockets in the sacred waterholes that speckle the land (used for tens of thousands of years as a kind of mapping system by First Nations People), and toward the coast.
Text Camilla Wagstaff
Many of these you can see at DAAF 2020. Art Centres are remarkable places that commemorate community, culture and Country. Not only do these professional art making studios empower and support Indigenous practitioners, they become a vital part of community life, fostering Aboriginal identity, encouraging artistic practice, and providing a place where younger generations can work and learn from their elders. Text Camilla Wagstaff
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50 Participating Art Centres
These include:
Hopevale Art and Cultural Centre
Milingimbi Art and Culture Centre
Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands Art Centre)
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TREATY
It is time for Australia to recognise and understand the story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
We must acknowledge the past so that we can all share an even brighter future. Treaty is about coming together, learning and understanding, and DAAF brings together people from all walks of life. In 2018, more than 13,000 people attended The Fair, and 90% of these said they learnt something new about Aboriginal culture. These are huge steps in the direction of justice and in 2019 we would like to see even more people walk through our doors!
For more information please visit: Uluru Statement from the Heart
VOICE
At DAAF, we recognise the need to elevate, celebrate and support the voices of Australian First Nations people. Art has a strong and important voice.
NAIDOC 2020
Always Was, Always Will Be.
Always Was, Always Will Be. recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.
We are spiritually and culturally connected to this country.
This country was criss-crossed by generations of brilliant Nations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were Australia’s first explorers, first navigators, first engineers, first farmers, first botanists, first scientists, first diplomats, first astronomers and first artists.
NAIDOC Week 2020 acknowledges and celebrates that our nation’s story didn’t begin with documented European contact whether in 1770 or 1606 – with the arrival of the Dutch on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula.
A recent article in The Conversation looks into Captain James Cook’s ‘hero status’ in Australian culture
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COLLECTIONS OF AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS ART IN NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS INCLUDE:
National Gallery Australia (NGA)
SAM (Seattle Art Museum)
The MET
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Disclaimer: Listed here is but a brief cross section of what may be experienced at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair: both art and issues that occupy First Australians in the 21st century. It is not intended to be exhaustive, nor to promote any one artist or art centre.
