National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award

Not to be confused with the National Indigenous Arts Awards (NIAA), awarded by the Australia Council, or the National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, awarded by the Australian Heritage Commission from 1993 until 2000.

The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, the annual award is commonly referred to as the Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, the Telstra Award or Telstra Prize. It is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists working in all media.

As of 2022^[update] the top prize is worth A$100,000, and the total prize pool A$190,000, making it as of August 2022 the richest art prize in the country.^[1]

History

The NATSIAA was established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award. Telstra has sponsored the awards since 1992.^[2]

The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair began as a complement to NATSIAA, but is now a separate event under the umbrella of the Darwin Festival.^[3]

In 2000, the prize money for the main award was doubled from A$20,000 to A$40,000. It was increased to A$50,000 in 2014, making it the largest prize for any Indigenous art award.^[4] In 2022, the main prize was doubled to A$1,000, making it equivalent to Australia's richest art prize, the Archibald Prize for portraiture. The total prize pool, at A$190,000, makes it as of August 2022 the richest art prize in the country.^[5] Each of the category awards tripled from A$5,000 to A$15,000 at the same time.^[6]

Categories

As of 2022^[update] there are six categories of awards as well as the main prize:^[7][8]

• Telstra Art Award ("The Big One") – A$100,000
• Telstra General Painting Award
• Telstra Bark Painting Award
• Telstra Works on Paper Award
• Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award
• Telstra Multimedia Award
• Telstra Emerging Artist Award

List of winners

• List of NATSIAA award winners

References

1. Breen, Jacqueline (5 August 2022). "Prize money doubles for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, making it Australia's richest art prize". ABC News. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
2. "Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards NATSIAA". MAGNT. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
3. "Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair". Indigenous Fashion Projects. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
4. "Biggest prize pool ever for Telstra Art Awards". Northern Territory Government. Matt Conlan MLA. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
5. Breen, Jacqueline (5 August 2022). "Prize money doubles for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, making it Australia's richest art prize". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
6. "Telstra NATSIAA". MAGNT. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
7. Breen, Jacqueline (5 August 2022). "Master Arnhem Land artist Margaret Rarru Garrawurra wins top prize in 2022 NATSIAA's with sweeping woven sail". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
8. "Telstra NATSIAA". MAGNT. Retrieved 7 August 2022.

External links

• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory