Aboriginal art is no one thing. The forms and styles developed across this great southern land can be as varied as the colours of a desert sunset, each creation carrying its own cultural significance. Dot paintings were just the tip of the iceberg at the 2024 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), where $190,000 was awarded to Australia’s most exceptional First Nations artists at a special event on Friday, August 9.
Now in its 41st year, NATSIAA is the longest-running and most significant award of its kind across the country. This year, almost 250 artists threw their hats into the ring, with all 72 finalists now proudly on show at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory on Larrakia Country, Darwin. Winners have been acknowledged across several categories, including the whopping $100,000 Telstra Art Award, as well as six more awards valued at $15,000 each. Here’s your first look at the 2024 winners.
Winner of the Telstra Art Award – Noli Rictor (Tjuntjuntjara, WA)
Pitjantjatjara man Noli Rictor took home the top prize of the night – the $100,000 NATSIAA Telstra Art Award – with his captivating painting titled ‘Kamanti’. This piece portrays Rictor’s ancestral homeland, the Kamanti site in the northern Spinifex Lands of remote Western Australia. It brings to life the Wati Kutjara Tjukurpa (Two Men Creation Line), depicting the sacred story of a father and son water serpent journeying across the Spinifex Lands on a ceremonial quest.
Reflecting on Rictor’s painting, the judging panel said: “At times the paint dances on the canvas’ surface; disrupting the eyes' ability to focus, giving the work a truly mesmerising appeal from its painterly merits.”
Winner of the Telstra Emerging Artist Award – Josina Pumani (Kaurna/Adelaide, SA)
A first-time entrant, young Pitjantjatjara woman Josina Pumani stood out among the crop of 21 emerging artist finalists in 2024. The striking design of her hand-built clay pot captures the atmosphere in Maralinga, a remote desert town in northern South Australia, which is 543 kilometres south of her birthplace, Mimili. During the mid-1950s, the lands of Maralinga were severely damaged by British nuclear tests, leaving lasting scars that continue to impact the Anangu people and their Country. For Pumani, creating this piece was a deeply cathartic experience, inspired by stories passed down of the devastating events.
The judges said: “The rich black in the artwork is representative of the cloud and fallout, while the interior red is indicative of the danger, immense heat and warning entailed in this story. Through reflection on the past, this artwork is a warning of what may come if nuclear energy is considered for Australia’s future.”
Winner of the Telstra Multimedia Award – Natalie Davey (Bunuba country/Fitzroy Crossing, WA)
As a custodian of Bunuba Danggu Muway, growing up in the small town of Fitzroy Crossing, Natalie Davey has reconnected with Country, language and ancestors through her art. Davey’s 10-minute multimedia work ‘River Report’ documents and preserves the extreme experiences her community faced during the devastating Fitzroy River flooding in 2023, which broke 100-year-old records. Combining animation, hand-painted storyboarding, and first-person documentary-style video, Davey brings attention to climate change and the need to prioritise community healing in response to natural disasters.
Winner of the Telstra Work on Paper Award – Shannon Brett (Meanjin/Brisbane, QLD)
A proud Wakka Wakka, Butchulla and Gooreng Gooreng artist and academic, Shannon Brett is passionate about addressing Australia's inherent racism and misogyny. With the decolonised, blak feminist perspective channelled in her winning photographic print – ‘An Australian Landscape’ – Brett hopes to shift the narrative around racism.
Commenting on Brett's winning artwork, the judging panel explained: “This work was chosen as the winner because of its honesty, and for bringing this conversation into the gallery. We all deserve a future free of prejudice, and these changes must begin here and now.”
Winner of the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award – Obed Namirrkki (Maningrida, Arnhem Land, NT)
Bark painting runs through the veins of Obed Namirrkki, an emerging artist at Maningrida Arts and Culture centre in the Northern Territory. His striking artworks, including ‘Kunkurra’ (meaning 'the spiralling wind') weave in techniques and stories which have been passed down to him through generations. This particular sculptural lorrkon (hollow log) is tied to Bilwoyinj: a sacred site near Mankorlod Outstation, where two key Kunijku Creation Beings (a father and son known as na-korokke) are believed to have hunted and eaten a goanna, with some of the creature's remains transforming into the rock formations present today.
Winner of the Telstra General Painting Award – Lydia Balbal (Rubibi/Broome, WA)
Mangala woman Lydia Balbal took home the hotly-contested general painting prize for her subtly-satirical piece, titled ‘Keeping up with the Balbals’. This eye-catching artwork, painted on a car bonnet, depicts the vast distances that Aboriginal people need to travel in today’s world.
The judges said: “The playfulness in the title is held with a double-edged sword. It hints at tall poppy syndrome within tight-knit communities across Australia, no matter where they are situated, but allows the artist's personality to shine through.”
Winner of the Telstra Bark Painting Award – Wurrandan Marawili (Yirrkala, NT)
When Wurrandan Marawili isn’t rocking out with the Garrangali band, this triple-threat artist creates fine-line paintings that narrate his experiences in Yilpara, on the shores of Blue Mud Bay in South Australia. His sacred design ‘Rumbal, the body / the truth’ is dedicated to a person affiliated to the Madarrpa clan of the Yirritja moiety. It depicts Baraltja, a mangrove creek where the lightning serpent Mundukul lives.
All finalists of the 41st Telstra NATSIAA will be showcased at MAGNT in Darwin until January 27, 2025. You can take a look at all the winners and nominees at magnt.net.au.
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