Telstra NATSIAA Opens as 2026 Judges are revealed

Now in its 43rd year, the awards draw together artists working everywhere from remote Art Centres and small townships to inner-city studios, with culture, storytelling and creative innovation converging across the exhibition. This year’s 64 works, selected from 221 entries, move through themes of intergenerational storytelling, the continuation of cultures, connection to Country and the enduring impacts of Australia’s colonial history on individuals and communities.

MAGNT has also revealed the judging panel for 2026: artists, curators, academics and cultural leaders Julie Gough, Yhonnie Scarce and Warraba Weatherall. Telstra NATSIAA Curator Dr Shannon Brett described the trio as bringing a wealth of artistic, cultural and academic expertise to the awards, while MAGNT Director Adam Worrallwelcomed the judges and encouraged audiences from across Australia and around the world to experience the works in person.

Gough is a Trawlwoolway artist, writer and curator of First Peoples’ Art and Culture at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in nipaluna/Hobart, whose installation, sound and video practice uncovers and re-presents subsumed and often conflicting histories. Scarce, who belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples, works across glass and photography to explore the ongoing effects of colonisation, drawing on family history and the strength of her ancestors. Weatherall, a Kamilaroi artist, lecturer and PhD candidate based in Meanjin/Brisbane, examines archival repositories and structures and the way social power is codified through visual language and form.

Spanning categories from bark painting and sculpture to multimedia and works on paper, Telstra NATSIAA captures the breadth and innovation of Indigenous art. Artists share in a total prize pool of $190,000, anchored by the $100,000 Telstra Art Award, alongside seven further category awards each worth $15,000 and the non-monetary Telstra People’s Choice Award, decided by popular vote across the run of the exhibition.

This year carries particular weight in the awards’ history. The 2026 edition marks 35 years of Telstra’s sponsorship, which began in 1992 under the company’s then name, Telecom, and grew the following year into the principal sponsorship that supports every category today. It also marks 40 years of the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award, which commemorates Wandjuk Marika OBE (1927–1987), a Yolngu man, artist and leader, and was first presented in 1987.

The finalists were shortlisted and judged by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peers Gail Mabo and Dean Greenoalongside 2026 Guest Curator Dr Brett, bringing together emerging artists and some of the most established names in contemporary Indigenous art.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 27 June, with the winners to be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Friday 7 August on the lawns of MAGNT, headlined by Drifting Clouds in a celebration of culture, music and art. Finalists can be viewed at magnt.net.au/telstra-natsiaa-2026.