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Even though Covid cancelled the 2021 National Indigenous Art Fair, themes still stand today — and the art centres are welcoming you online

"Although the Sydney event has been cancelled we urge people to continue to support remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by buying directly from the Art Centres who had planned to join us this year in Sydney," says Peter Cooley, CEO, First Hand Solutions and Indigigrow & NSW Director of First Nations Bushfood and Botanical Alliance Australia. "Many of these art centres continue to face significant challenges rebuilding from COVID. You can make a difference by visiting their websites and purchasing direct.”

View a list of participating Art Centres with links to their websites at niaf.com.au/art-centres-attending.

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Prior to cancellation, the 2021 National Indigenous Art Fair was set to bring together over 50 art and design stalls — plus performances, bushfood workshops, and art installations — from across Australia as part of 2021 NAIDOC Week.

For just a gold coin donation on entry, Australia is invited to Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal overlooking Circular Quay for a celebration of First Nation art, design, and culture as we pay respect to 2021’s NAIDOC theme of Heal Country, Heal our Nation.


Indigenous dance performance at NIAF 2019. Photo courtesy First Hand Solutions


Alongside the chance to purchase bespoke and one-off pieces from some of Australia’s most well-loved art centres, at the heart of the fair is Connection to Country and paying respect to the Traditional Custodians. On the 3rd and 4th of July, at 10am each day, the fair opens with an Indigenous smoking ceremony by Matthew Doyle (Murrawarri) and Brock Tutt on didgeridoo (Yuin) on Saturday and Koomurri on Sunday to bless and cleanse the stalls. On Sunday, a children’s boomerang painting and dance workshop follows, presented by Koomurri.

The program continues with highlights of bushfood cooking demonstrations from award-winning chef, cookbook author and television personality Aunty Dale Chapman from My Dilly Bag and a panel discussion, Our plants - Our business with Peter Cooley, CEO, First Hand Solutions and Indigigrow & NSW Director of First Nations Bushfood and Botanical Alliance Australia.

Dale Chapman. Photo courtesy the National Indigenous Art Fair

“With the NAIDOC theme of Heal Country, I’m really glad we get to highlight at our Art Fair native plants and our connection to the land and how this can help sustain the environment,” says Peter. “We’ve got two really important panel discussions at the Art Fair about this, including a First Nations perspective on Caring for Country utilizing plants, fire, water and knowledge passed down to us through storytelling.”

The National Indigenous Art Fair grew out of the Sydney-based Blak Markets social enterprise, which has been running for eight years. “This has acted as a micro-business hub for Aboriginal people in the arts, craft and bushfood space and provides the opportunity for visitors to buy authentic art from the maker and being assured 100% of the proceeds from the sale go back to communities,” says Sarah Martin, founder of the Blak Markets and the director of First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation.

After four years of running the Blak Markets, Sarah wanted to include art centres from around Australia—inviting the culture that rightly belongs next to the artworks and designs. As such, we can expect to see works from APY Art Centre Collective in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, SA; Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre from Gunbalanya, Arnhem Land, NT; Munupi Arts and Craft Association on Melville Island, Tiwi Islands, NT; to the Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre in Pormpuraaw, Cape York, QLD, and Spinifex Hill Studio, South Hedland, WA.

Artists from APY Arts Centre Collective in Sydney for NIAF 2018. Photo courtesy First Hand Solutions

“I know how much of a role these art centres play in protecting language and culture in their communities, and this culture is there for visitors to the Art Fair to see in the artwork, and you can get the story behind the painting, which adds an extra dimension.” Sarah Martin.

“I love the unique artworks that have made their way from the remotest corners of Australia; many of which demonstrate that Connection to Country which I think many of us have lost in our urban environment,” says Sarah. “To be able to purchase an artwork that incorporates processes that have been used for thousands of years is such a unique opportunity for us all.”

At the heart of the Art Fair is the message from NADIOC week: Heal Country, Heal our Nation. There will be three sets of Ghost Nets artworks on display at the Art Fair to reflect this critical message—highlighting the environmental damage of disused fishing nets in the ocean. Among the installation is an artwork from Cape York’s Pormpuraaw Art Centre; a whale and harlequin fish weaving from SA’s Ceduna Art Centre; and a third work that will develop in a live installation at the Art Fair of a turtle—85% of the animals caught in ghost nets are turtles.

With a first-hand chance to interact and appreciate the knowledge and culture of remote communities in Australia, the National Indigenous Art Fair is not to be missed. As Peter reminds us, “people visiting the Art Fair are really lucky because so much of the art you will see here illustrates the stories around plants and animals and the land and our connection to them—so please do support First Nations businesses when you can.”

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A quick note from the organisers:

One piece of good news out of the cancellation of this year's National Indigenous Art Fair is that the ghost net sculpture that was to be built in the communal weaving circle at the Art Fair made its way to SA’s Arts Ceduna, one of the art centres who would have attended the Art Fair for NAIDOC Week.

The largescale turtle sculpture, intended to highlight the NAIDOC Week theme of Heal Country, should have been at the centre of a NIAF installation drawing attention to the environmental damage caused by disused fishing nets adrift in the ocean. Ghost net sculpture is one of the art formats that has taken up in recent years, in an effort to diversify.

Ceduna Art Centre is today hosting a professional development workshop around ghost net sculpture and we are hoping the turtle will make it to next year's Art Fair. In the meantime, buy direct from art centres that would have attended at https://www.niaf.com.au/art-centres-attending or head to next month's Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair which has also been forced to go online.

Sarah Martin


Ghost Net Sculpture