Ruby Goss, Winners of esteemed Indigenous art prize announced, ArtsHub, 11 August 2015

The Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award have announced their six winning artists for 2015.

The Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia’s most prestigious national Indigenous art prize, offering the winning artist $50,000 in prize money and a spotlight into the Australian art world and beyond.

Since 1984, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in Darwin has been home to the Telstra NATSIAA. The hosting of the awards in the capital is both geographically and symbolically significant, notes Marcus Schutenko, Director, MAGNT.

Schutenko said that the Australian arts sector looks to the Territory for information about the issues and achievements in the Indigenous community, and therefore it is ‘really important that the preeminent award is also based here.’

In 2015 the awards themselves celebrate 32 years of supporting Indigenous artists in Australia. Schutenko elaborates on the profile of the awards, ‘The NATSIAA awards are really the principle art award for Indigenous art in Australia so they are of vital importance.

‘They have a strong national profile and internationally they are regarded as the place to see the best of what is coming through in Indigenous art in Australia.’

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