Desert Mob 30

Exhibitions

Presented by Araluen Arts Centre

Desert Mob celebrates a milestone in 2021; 30 years of bringing together the art and culture of Aboriginal artists from millions of square kilometres of desert country and kinship.

Initiated by the Araluen Arts Centre, the first exhibition in 1991 presented the contemporary art and craft work of thirteen art centres and art groups, with the hope that it would become an annual event. In 2021 artists from art centres in Arrernte country, the Western Desert, Martu country, Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Spinifex country, the Barkly and Utopia, will come together for Desert Mob’s 30th anniversary year.

Across three decades, Desert Mob has presented thousands of new works by thousands of artists, shared their many stories and cultural projects, and has become a nationally renowned and anticipated event. Desert Mob has created a legacy as a unique coming together in Mparntwe, as a place for artists’ familial, intergenerational gathering and exchange, and for audiences to listen to and share in one of the most significant art movements and the strongest expressions of First Nations culture in the world.

Desert Mob 30 will be celebratory and reflective. The official opening and performances, exhibition, marketplace and associated events at venues across Mparntwe are an unmissable opportunity to experience and share artist’s voices, stories, resilience and strength, and witness this exhilarating statement of Aboriginal art and its dynamism over 30 years.

Desert Mob 30 Exhibition

Spanning three galleries and hundreds of new works by established, mid-career and emerging artists, selected and curated for inclusion by art centres, The Desert Mob exhibition is a testament to tradition and a testing ground for experimentation and innovation in contemporary Aboriginal art from the desert.

Desert Mob Marketplace

The Desert Mob Marketplace is a large affordable art market, bringing together paintings, punu, ceramics, Tjanpi weaving, sculpture, clothing, jewellery, textiles, and homewares from Aboriginal-owned art centres across Central Australia. Purchasing from the Desert Mob Marketplace ensures the ethical purchasing of art with all income going to art centres.

Official Opening 5pm Friday 10 September

MarketPlace 10am – 2pm Saturday 11 September

Exhibition dates 10 September – 24 October

Online Gallery launches at 9am (ACST) on 11 September

Text courtesy Araluen Arts Centre:Art Galleries and Theatre