The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) and Principal Sponsor Telstra are pleased to announce Kate Podger as the curator for the 27th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
Kate has worked in the Indigenous arts industry for more than 10 years and is currently curator at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs.
MAGNT Acting Director Darlene Lion welcomed Kate on board for the 2010 Telstra Art Award. “Kate’s an excellent choice for the role with her vast experience in planning and developing Indigenous art collections and exhibitions,” Ms Lion said.
“In her role at Araluen Art Centre Ms Podger presents an exhibition program that provides an interpretive experience to the development of key Indigenous art movements in central Australia, including art works by Albert Namatjira and his contemporaries, the early Papunya artists and contemporary Aboriginal art from this region.”
Ms Podger also has experience providing management and curatorial expertise for the annual Desert Mob exhibition, a premier Indigenous art event showcasing around 400 recent works from 40 Desart member Aboriginal art centres in Central Australia with works by artists living and working in remote areas of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia (central desert region).
“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to curate the 27th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, with artworks drawn from the best of Indigenous art from across the nation,” Ms Podger said. “2010 is a year of growth and evolution for the Awards and is especially exciting with the inclusion of the inaugural Telstra New Media Award; I am really looking forward to receiving the entries from this new category.”
Entries for the inaugural Telstra New Media Award with the theme of ‘Connections’ remain open until Friday, 30 April 2010.
In 2010 the Telstra Art Award will celebrate its 27th year and is the longest running art award dedicated to the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. It is considered the premier national event in the Australian Indigenous arts calendar.
The 27th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award exhibition opens, and award presentations will be made, on Friday, 13 August 2010.
Entries for the 27th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award closed on Friday, 2nd April 2010. Entries for the Telstra New Media Award close on Friday, 30 April 2010.
For an entry form, please contact the Award Coordinator at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, GPO Box 4646, DARWIN NT 0801, phone 08 8999 8203 or email natsiaa@nt.gov.au or go to www.magnt.nt.gov.au/natsiaa
For media inquiries or to arrange interviews/ additional photographs please contact Anne Marshall 0437 915 366.
Image – Curator Kate Podger pictured with a painting by Balgo Hills, WA based artist Elizabeth Nyumi, ‘Parwalla’ from the MAGNT Telstra collection The 27th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments
