Artists will now share in a total of $190,000, up from $80,000. Prize money for the major Telstra Art Award has doubled to $100,000, and each of the category awards have tripled to $15,000. Funds for MAGNT to acquire art into the Telstra Collection have also increased to $50,000.
Our renewed partnership with MAGNT means Telstra’s support of NATSIAA will extend to over 30 years. It is the longest running Indigenous art award and elevates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art across Australia and internationally, and we’re proud to have supported this initiative.
Telstra CEO Andrew Penn said he was delighted that the more than doubled prize money would encourage more emerging and established artists to share their work. “The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards celebrate our rich, diverse, and unique First Nations’ Australian stories. I’m so proud of Telstra’s 30 year relationship which helps bring this art to more people all around the world.
“Art is an amazing storytelling platform, and for over 30 years, the Telstra NATSIAA has provided an opportunity for the rich and diverse stories of our First Nations people to be told.”
63 finalists selected in the 2022 exhibition
63 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander finalists from across the country have been selected as finalists for the 2022 NATSIAA, from a total of 221 entries. 33 finalists are from the Northern Territory, 12 are from WA, 12 are from SA, 6 are from Queensland including one Torres Strait Islander artist, and one each from New South Wales and Victoria.
77 of this year’s entrants were emerging artists, demonstrating the Awards’ central place in encouraging and rewarding new talent and ideas. The selection panel included Wadjarri, Nhanda and Nyoongar man, artist, and Fremantle Arts Centre curator Glenn Iseger-Pilkington, Gulumirrgin (Larrakia), Wadaman, and Karajarri woman and National Gallery of Australia curator Tina Baum, and Arabana, Mualgal, and Wuthathi woman and MAGNT curator Rebekah Raymond.
The selection panel said that they had seen a vast number of exceptional works from this year’s entrants. “Receiving such a volume of great submissions made our job as a selection panel even more difficult. What we were left with after three days of deliberation, is a selection of work from across this continent that is testament to the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, makers. custodians, and communities. It is a great honour to select from such a large number of submissions and celebrate each artist’s unique practice.”
Winners of the 2022 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards will be announced on Friday 5 August, with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
