Tarnanthi Art Fair returns to AGSA

Some good news from the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Tarnanthi Art Fair, which will this year proceed as an in-person art fair as well as online. Tarnanthi Artistic Director Nici Cumpston OAM says, “In this difficult year, there has never been a more important time to support regional and remote communities through your love of art.”

South Australian residents and visitors can visit Lot Fourteen in Adelaide from 4 to 6 December to purchase works directly from Art Centres. The Tarnanthi Art Fair online portal on the AGSA website will be accessible from 27 November to 6 December.

Artists of these works will not be present at the art fair, however the works for sale have been curated and selected by Indigenous-run Art Centres. Artworks start at $50 and a range of mediums are available from paintings to carvings, weavings, jewellery, clothing, textiles and homewares.

AGSA and the Tarnanthi Art Fair have planned this event in accordance with covid-19 safety measures. Additional safety measures have been introduced in response to the restrictions implemented on Monday 16 November.

The Tarnanthi Art Fair adheres to the Indigenous Art Code. This informs buyers that purchases are ethical, and the artists’ interests are put first. Every dollar from sales goes directly to artists and into their communities, where art production is a vital source of income. Since the first Tarnanthi Art Fair in 2015, it has $3.4 million in sales according to organisers, with all sales going directly to artists and art centres. Organisers note that 1.3 million people have attended Tarnanthi exhibitions and events.

The 2021 Tarnanthi Art Fair has been developed in close consultation with artist communities and in partnership with non-for-profit Aboriginal organisation Agency.

Also part of Tarnanthi, the exhibition titled Open Hands has reopened at AGSA and is on display until 31 January. Open Hands celebrates the ongoing and often unseen work of mainly women artists, featuring the work of 87 artists from across the country.

Image: Bula’Bula Arts at the Tarnanthi Art Fair. Courtesy: the artists, Bula’Bula Arts and Art Gallery of South Australia. Photo: Saul Steed.