Art Centres Attending NIAF 2026

Maningrida Arts & Culture (MAC) is based on Kunibídji country in Arnhem Land, and is one of the oldest continuing art centres, promoting the work of more than 800 artists from 12 distinct language groups and 32 homelands. Maningrida artists work with natural materials, and create bark paintings, carved wooden and fibre sculptures, and woven fibre works. MAC also supports the Djómi Museum in Maningrida, which is home to a unique and valuable cultural collection of national and international significance.

Featured Image: Artist Jeremiah Bonson with his Warraburnburn and family outside Maningrida Arts; wife and fellow artist Jacqueline Rrondhu and daughter Jerisha

Established in 1989 on Wulirankuwu Country, Jilamara Arts is owned and governed by artists from the community of Milikapiti on the Tiwi Islands. The art centre is the cultural hub of the community and houses working studios, wood-carving and screen-printing workshops, the architecturally designed Kutuwulumi Gallery, the Wurrungura digital archive, and the Muluwurri Museum collection. Through workshops, training, and representation, Jilamara members of diverse abilities are supported to build careers as arts workers, cultural advocates, and internationally renowned artists. Within the community, the art centre is also an important place for local school children to learn through culture classes and for many generations of Tiwi people to build bright futures.

The term Jilamara describes “design” based on ceremonial ochre markings on the body. Reimagining these styles at the art centre has fostered a dynamic creative field for maintaining Tiwi knowledge, while also sharing and celebrating contemporary living culture. These performative foundations have directed the organisation’s course for decades, from its origins in translating jilamara design into screen-printed garments as an adult education centre in the 1980s, to producing major exhibition outcomes as an Indigenous-governed art centre in more recent decades.

Featured Image: Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri carving, image courtesy of Jilamara Arts

Pormpuraaw Art and Culture Centre Incorporated is an Aboriginal-owned and governed organisation providing comprehensive, culturally responsive artistic and cultural services to the people of Pormpuraaw. The centre is dedicated to strengthening and showcasing cultural knowledge, artistic practice, and community leadership both locally and internationally.

The centre is widely recognised for its distinctive Ghost Net Art, which combines traditional cultural storytelling with contemporary conversations around sustainability, marine conservation, and ecological change. Pormpuraaw artists work across a diverse range of mediums including painting, printmaking, carving, sculpture, and weaving, using art as a powerful way to share stories of Country, land, and waterways.

Beyond its artistic achievements, the centre plays a vital role within the community as a cultural keeping place for objects and materials of deep cultural significance. It supports ongoing cultural maintenance through activities such as traditional dance, language, storytelling, and knowledge-sharing. The Pormpuraaw Dance Troupe has received regional acclaim for its performances at cultural festivals throughout Far North Queensland.

The centre has also produced a range of self-published books documenting local stories, histories, and traditions, helping preserve and pass on cultural knowledge for future generations. As a community hub, the art centre functions as a resource centre, meeting place, and important local employer, nurturing the cultural wellbeing of the Thaayorre, Kugu, and Wik peoples.

At its core, the organisation is committed to empowering community members through leadership development, artistic excellence, and the continuation of traditional knowledge. Through the success of its artists and cultural programs, Pormpuraaw culture continues to be shared and celebrated across Australia and internationally.

Featured Image: Thelma Norman, Marlene Norman, Alma Norman

Injalak Arts has been a centre for art, craft and community since it’s opening in 1989. We are based in Gunbalanya, an Aboriginal community of 1200 in West Arnhem Land at the top of the Northern Territory in Australia.

In Kunwinjku, the language of our artists, Injalak means shelter. We pride ourselves on creating a safe place for culture, creativity and knowledge to bloom within the community. With over 200 active members – artists, weavers and craftspeople from Gunbalanya and surrounding homelands, our year-round production of art is inspired by connection to culture, country and people.

Featured Image: Becc

Arlpwe (pronounced Ahl-boa) sits on Kaytetye Country in Ali Curung, an Aboriginal community about 400km north of Alice Springs.

They are a 100% Aboriginal owned non-for-profit, comprised of artists from the Kaytetye, Alyawarr, Warlpiri and Warumungu nations.

Ali Curung, or Alekarenge, means 'belonging to the dog' referring to the dog dreaming site that the town sits upon.

Image courtesy of Arlpawe Art and Culture Centre

Darrikardu Art Collective supports artists from the Thamarrurr Region, spanning a number of remote communities and homelands, including Wadeye, Ngnamarriyanga (Palumpa), Ngnambala (Emu Point), Wudapili, Nemarluk, Nama and Wudikapildiyer.

Their artists create work within their communities, combining both traditional and contemporary techniques to produce distinctive and meaningful pieces.

At the Men’s Shed in Wadeye, skilled artisans use a Lucas swing blade sawmill to transform locally sourced timber into handcrafted boomerangs, carved spearheads, traditional clapsticks, guitar heads and wooden panels for painting. Meanwhile, at the Women’s Centre, a 10-metre screen-printing table enables artists to produce vibrant designs across lengths of fabric.

Darrikardu Art Collective also celebrates and maintains important cultural practices such as weaving and carving, alongside painting. Many artists express deep connections to Country through their work, sharing stories of land, totems and seasonal change.

They are excited to share these unique creations and the cultural stories they carry.

Nyinkka Nyunyu Art & Culture Centre is a Warumungu-owned cultural centre located in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Established to celebrate, maintain and share Warumungu culture, the centre brings together art, story and cultural knowledge through exhibitions, cultural interpretation and community programs.

At the heart of the centre’s visual arts program is the Tennant Creek Brio, a vibrant collective of local artists from Tennant Creek and the wider Barkly region. Through the Tennant Creek Brio, Nyinkka Nyunyu champions the work of emerging and established artists whose practices are grounded in culture, Country and contemporary expression, contributing to the growing profile of Barkly artists within the broader Australian Indigenous art movement.

Many Merrepen designs draw inspiration from the plants, animals, and flowing waters of the Daly River region. Through painting, fabric printing, and weaving, artists express deep cultural knowledge, reflecting the tropical environment’s colour, movement, and intensity through layered textures and bold compositions.

Founded in 1986, Merrepen Arts, Culture and Language Aboriginal Corporation is an Aboriginal-owned and governed cooperative with around 100 local members. Based in Nauiyu, the centre includes a gallery, museum, archives, and language room, alongside a dedicated fabric printing workshop.

In 2026, Merrepen Arts celebrates 40 years of operation. Located in Nauiyu (Daly River), approximately 220 km south-west of Darwin, the centre now supports around 130 member artists. Artists work across a diverse range of traditional and contemporary mediums, including painting, limited edition prints, and textiles.

Merrepen Arts is renowned for its iconic textile designs, which have been featured in fashion, accessories, interior design, public projects, and publications. Its hand-printed fabrics have developed a dedicated following.

Featured Image: Marita Sambono

The paintings of Peppimenarti are based upon traditional weaving and durrmu (dot body painting) designs. These are complemented by the women artists’ premium pandanus and sand-palm fibre weaving work. 

The women of Peppimenarti are traditionally weavers and have transposed their knowledge of fibre and textiles onto the canvas. The results are paintings of intricate, abstract mark-making; some clearly representing syaw (fishnet) and wupun (basket weaving) through their layered textures, whilst others resemble fine tapestries. The men’s art lies in the production of body paint designs and cultural articles. Many of the male artists paint their inherited didgeridu designs.

In 2000, Regina Wilson and Theresa Lemon represented the Peppimenarti Community at the Contemporary Art Biennale staged as part of the Pacific Arts Festival in Noumea. In 2003, Regina Wilson was named the winner of the General Painting category of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander Art Award, drawing further attention to the artistic output of this vibrant community. More recently, Regina was chosen as a finalist in the 2008 Wynne prize at the Art Gallery of NSW.

As Patrick Hutchings and Heng Wei stated in Australian Art Review, 2003, ‘Something new and important is happening at Peppimenarti. It’s something else – twice over. It’s not about narrative, but spear-dots and weaving; however it’s also about a beauty abstracted from handicraft. It no longer maps a songline, but sings a new song.’

Durrmu Arts Aboriginal Corporation was registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander) Act 2006, in 2011. Prior to that, was part of the Peppimenarti Association. 

Durrmu Arts is a member of the Indigenous Art Code and ANKA (Arnhem, Northern and Kimberley Artists).

Featured Image: Regina Wilson

The Utopia Art Centre falls within the umbrella of the Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation.  The Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation is an  Alyawarr and Anmatyerr Aboriginal community controlled organisation.  It  is a non for profit organisation, holding charity status. Located on Arlparra Country, 250kms northeast of Alice Springs, Utopia Art Centre works across 16 remote homelands. The Art Centre supports emerging and established artists, providing a space for intergenerational learning and cultural expression in the Homelands.

Utopia artists have produced some of Australia’s most recognisable works of art, within the remote region. Works painted by leading artists who include one of the most prominent and successful of all Australian artists, Emily Kam Kngwarray. Her dreaming continues to be shared through family, having artistically influenced family across the region.

Utopia was one of the first remote area regions to be artistically and commercially successful, with workshops and exhibitions from the late 1970’s and onwards.  While these early successes were built on community-focused activities, this soon shifted.  Aside from a short period around 2001 and 2002, Utopia has never had a community-owned and governed art centre. The dominant commercial practice has been direct artist-dealer relationships and the promotion of individual artists. This independent and free-range approach has created significant controversy, including numerous instances of unethical and/or illegal practice, alongside significant artistic successes. With the opening of the art centre in 2020, in Arlparra Homeland, the artists now have an ethical, safe, and supportive space to create and sell their work. This has helped them become more involved in the national and international economy in a fair and empowering way. Having the space to celebrate their culture and heritage through painting and storytelling.  

Walkatjara Art is a not-for-profit, Indigenous-owned and governed art centre based in Mutitjulu, at the foot of Uluru. They are a vibrant hub of art, culture, and community, where artists work alongside families in a positive and creative space.

Artists receive 50% of all artwork sales, with the remainder reinvested into the Art Centre and community programs. They also provide employment and training opportunities for local people.

Featured Photo: Freda Teamay

Established in 2019, Numbulwar’s first art centre is 100 per cent owned and controlled by the community. Born from the community’s desire to practice and engage with traditional culture, NNA is a space for artistic and cultural expression.

Champions of fibre art, NNA artists marry naturally-dyed and locally-harvested pandanus with bright and bold ghost nets, abandoned fishing line retrieved from Numbulwar’s shoreline. Our Wulbung (baskets) and Yir (dillybags) fit as naturally in traditional applications as they do in contemporary, urban environments.

Numbulwar sits on the Rose River and belongs to the Nunggayinbala clan, one of the Wubuy or Nunggubuyu speaking clans from the region. Ceremonial activities are still very important within the region and occur regularly.

Featured Image: Adelaide Keraldy

Located in Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island, Ngaruwanajirri, often called the Tiwi Sistine Chapel is a unique art centre where a small group of Tiwi artists create powerful works in a peaceful, purpose-built space known as The Keeping Place.

Established in 1994 to support Tiwi artists with disabilities, the centre has become a hub for distinctive, expressive artwork often described as naive, free, or Outsider art. These artists are celebrated both nationally and internationally, with work held in major State Galleries.

Featured Photo: Lorna Kantilla

Central to the Engawala Art Centre mandate is providing professional development opportunities for local artists to expand their artistic horizons, encompassing mediums such as painting, screen printing, pottery, and carving.

Featured Photo: Maryanne Tilmouth

"The Artists of the Barkly Collective represents over fifty Aboriginal artists living in five remote communities across the Barkly region: Mungkarta, Kulumindini (Elliott), Owairtilla (Canteen Creek), Tennant Creek and Wutunugurra (Epenarra). The Collective includes seven language groups; Alyawarr, Kaytetye, Mudburra, Jingili, Waramungu, Warlpiri and Warlmanpa.

The Artists of the Barkly employ contemporary mediums to celebrate and preserve ancient cultures and languages. The vast breadth of variety in work made across the Collective reflects its cultural diversity, whilst shared elements of visual language illustrate the role of art centres in multi-generational knowledge-sharing.

The Collective is facilitated by Barkly Regional Arts, a not-for-profit multi-disciplinary art centre based on Waramungu Country. Barkly Regional Arts collaborates with remote Indigenous communities to foster access, development, and recognition of arts in the Barkly.

The Artists of the Barkly will be bring paintings and selection of ceramics to NAIF."

Papulankutja Artists is an Aboriginal owned non-for-profit corporation operating in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia.

Papulankutja (Blackstone) community is approximately 900kms west of Alice Springs and 1575kms north-east of Perth.

In the 80’s, the centre was a place where local men and women came to paint. As the market boomed, a framework needed to be established to ensure artists worked in fair conditions. Papulankutja Artists was officially established in 2003, and moved into a purpose-built space five years later in 2009. The art centre also services Mantamaru (Jameson) community, 75kms to the west of Papulankutja.

The art centre provides Ngaanyatjarra artists with a space for creative expression & the telling of Tjukurrpa (dreamtime) stories, as well as supporting the wellbeing of artists & families by providing a source of independent income.

The art centre facilitates visual art projects and production in various mediums including painting, tjanpi weaving, purnu carving, and jewelry made from local nuts and seeds.

Papulankutja artists have been featured in several major exhibitions and participate annually in key industry events including Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Revealed Exhibition and Desert Mob.

Featured Image: Jennifer Nginyaka Mitchell

Marrawuddi Arts and Culture is a beautiful Community Arts Centre located in the repurposed Jabiru Bakery in the heart of the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park.

The stunningly renovated building, which welcomes dozens of visitors daily, features a vibrant working space for artists use as well as a beautiful exhibition area and delicious coffee. Tourists are encouraged to spend time with artists and learn about the beautiful artworks available for purchase. The quality of artworks for sale at Marrawuddi is exceptional and all stock is created by artists living in or around the Kakadu and wider West Arnhem region.

Keringke Art Centre is situated in the community of Ltyentye Apurte in the Central Australian region of the Northern Territory.

The community was named for the stand of bloodwood trees that grow at the foot of hills to the west. Keringke Arts was named after an important and ancient rock-hole nearby that was formed when an ancestor Kangaroo travelled through the country. Several of the Keringke Artists have responsibilities associated with the Keringke Rockhole site.

Keringke Art Centre began with a nine week fabric-painting course back in 1987.

The APY Art Centre Collective are a group of Indigenous-owned and governed art centres that work together on innovative artistic projects, and strong business initiatives. Our art centre businesses are the beating heart of our communities. Our vision is to support every person of working age to have culturally affirming employment and an independentincome so that they can succeed in our world and yours.

Community was established in 1999 near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The work produced by the artists is recognisably distinct from other Aboriginal artistic communities, due to the application of fine dots and the often bright and figurative depiction of the land.

Tjarlirli Art Centre represents the artists of Tjukurla in the Ngannyatjarra lands of Western Australia. The artwork has strong links with the Papunya Tula movement as families left Kintore and Kiwirrkurra to return to their homelands in the mid 1980s. Tjarlirli Art manages a second art centre, Kaltukatjara Art, representing the artists of Kaltukatjara (Docker River) in the Pitjantjatjarra lands of the Northern Territory. There are close ties and family links between these communities.

Warlukurlangu Artists is one of the longest running and most successful Aboriginal-owned art centres in Central Australia.

It has a national and international profile and its art has been featured in hundreds of exhibitions and publications in Australia and around the world.

Warlukurlangu means ‘belonging to fire’ in the local language, Warlpiri, and is named after a fire dreaming site west of Yuendumu.

Ikuntji Artists was the first art centre established by women in the Western Desert Art Movement. Already in the 1980s women began painting in Haasts Bluff in the aged care facility. They had been instructed by their husbands and fathers, and they had often assisted them in completing their paintings. By the early 1990s these women artists decided to pursue setting up their own art centre.

Munupi Arts & Crafts Association is located along Melville Island's north-western coastline at Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) and is the most recently formed art centre on the Tiwi Islands. In 1990 the Yikikini Women’s Centre and Pirlangimpi Pottery were incorporated under the name Munupi Arts and Crafts Association giving local artists an opportunity to proudly celebrate Tiwi culture through both traditional and contemporary mediums.

For 25 years Munupi Arts has been a vital meeting place for the Tiwi people of the Pirlangimpi community for employment, cultural pride and well being.

Munupi Art is wholly indigenous owned and governed.

The Warnayaka Art Gallery is located in Australia, in Lajamanu, NT. We specialise in Indignous Aboriginal Art. The Lajamanu Community is 580kms south west of Katherine, Northern Territory. Lajamanu is half way between Alice Springs and Darwin. Lajamanu has a population of around 900 Warlpiri people and their stories are part of their art.

Ngukurr Art Centre sits a stone’s throw from the banks of the Roper River in Ngukurr, South East Arnhem Land. The Art Centre, like the town of Ngukurr, is unique – bringing together people of many different clans and language groups including Ngalakgan, Alawa, Mangarrayi, Ngandi, Marra, Warndarrang, Nunggubuyu, Ritharrngu-Wägilak and Rembarrnga. Together these clans are known as Yugul Mangi.

Featured Image: Luke Djalgarrarra

Gapuwiyak is a remote Art Centre in east Arnhemland. We are owned by our Yolŋu members and support over one hundred artists from Gapuwiyak and surrounding homelands.

There are eighteen clans in this region each with their own interconnected clan estates, songs, patterns and designs.