Cultivate Connection at Desert Mob
Artists and art lovers pour into Mparntwe/Alice Springs for Desert Mob this month, set to experience a colour-popping program, exhibition and marketplace. Experience the gathering of over 30 Art Centres in this celebration of Country, community and culture.
By Betty Sweetlove
FEATURING ARTIST TALKS, after-dark events and the much-anticipated marketplace, Desert Mob is an annual arts highlight for visitors and locals alike. Curators Hetti Perkins and Aspen Beattie can’t wait to open this year’s gallery doors.
“We're super excited again this year. It's always such a pleasure because it's just such a beautiful time of the year and all the wildflowers are out and everything, so Central Australia is just gorgeous,” says Perkins.
“People can't wait to come for the show and be part of it all. So that's always for us the most exciting thing, that the artists are happy, because it's their event.”
Their creative partnership over the last two years has resulted in an explosion of new events including the all-day Symposium. In 2024, a record-breaking 35 Art Centres feature in the program.
“I've been so privileged to have Hetti kind of be my mentor in this journey, and just see how important it is to be collaborative and, you know, open your ears to the Art Centres and the artists that you're working directly with, making sure that it's artists first,” says Beattie.
“We're privileging their voices when we're hanging their work or accepting their work into the exhibition and just giving them that platform to shine.”
Perkins says they have big plans for the beloved event moving forwards.
“We are very ambitious for Desert Mob. There is no end to the talent and so we're really trying to make sure we can support as many expressions of our culture as we can in this space,” says Perkins.
The sublime scale of the works in this year’s exhibition has to be seen to be believed.
“One of the things that we're really seeing is a lot of the works are quite major works, you know, ones that you'd expect to see in state galleries or art museums. So that's really exciting,” says Perkins.
The exhibition centrepiece showcases Maruku Arts, the Anangu-owned arts collective based in Mutitjulu. Internationally renowned Maruku director Rene Kulitja, who’s work Yananyi Dreaming famously covers a Qantas Boeing 737, opens the show.
“We've invited [Rene], and she's very generously accepted our invitation to open Desert Mob this year. So, again, we're very, very excited about that,” says Perkins.
“[Maruku is] one of the original Art Centres that have been a part of Desert Mob from its beginning. They're still here and we're really trying to show them off on their 40th birthday,” says Beattie.
“We were really fortunate to be able to work with Verity, who's the CEO at Maruku, to select some Punu works because that's again been something that they're really known for since their first exhibition 40 years ago, since they were incorporated,” says Perkins.
Adding to the opening night atmosphere is the soothing sounds of musician Keanu Nelson Tjakamarra. Attendees can take advantage of the exhibition opening from 5pm, giving visitors an hour to enjoy the artworks before grabbing a spot to listen to opening speeches.
“It really is that principle … of culture first. You know, privileging the artist’s voice is at the centre of it, and that's why we encourage people to actually come the first night. The works are only for sale locally, the exhibition's not online, so we do make sure that people living in Mparntwe have first go at the beautiful works on display,” says Perkins.
With so much culture on offer, workshops, talks and after-dark events are in high demand. Explore the full program for an opportunity like no other to experience the richness of First Nations culture.
Desert Mob
WHEN THU 5 SEP – SUN 20 OCT
AT ARALUEN ARTS CENTRE
INFO desertmob.com
Header & thumbnail: Desert Mob 2023 Exhibition installation image with work by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Warlukurlangu Artists. Photo: Rhett Hammerton.
Inset: Cindy Kunoth of Utopia Art Centre at Desert Mob 2023 Marketplace. Photo: Rhett Hammerton.
