DESERT MOB
This September, the stunning Desert Mob program and prestigious Vincent Lingiari Art Award coincide. They’re bringing extraordinary presentations of desert art and culture to Araluen Arts Centre, Mparntwe/Alice Springs, and celebrating the milestone of 50 years of land rights.
WORDS ROSIE WILD
IMAGE SARA MAIORINO
THE DESERT MOB program and the Vincent Lingiari Art Award (VLAA) are eagerly anticipated. Troopies bump down desert roads, locals keenly save the dates, and travellers flock together for exhibitions, talks, music, food, markets, awards, and celebrations.
At these events, desert art and its many visual languages communicate about land, family, culture, Country, advocacy, and legacy. They offer a visual cornucopia of sculpture, carvings, painting, fashion, animation, and ceramics.
Experiencing these events is an essential yearly ritual. Co-curator of Desert Mob, Hetti Perkins (Arrernte and Kalkadoon), explains that, for mob from the desert, they help celebrate identity and transmit intergenerational cultural inheritance. For everyone else, they’re a big, warm invitation.
“For us, its very name is what it's about. It's by desert mob for desert mob. The art shows what’s always been here and continues today. These things are maintained. They’re valued. They’re for future generations. That comes through very strongly,” says Perkins.
“I think that's why a lot of people make the trip from interstate and even around the world. Because it feels like an Aboriginal event that they're welcome to and invited to.”
Of all the years to make sure you take up this invitation, this is a significant one. It marks 50 years of Indigenous land rights and celebrates the recent High Court decision over the Singleton Water licence, in favour of Traditional Owners.
Official opening celebrations on Thursday see the exhibition doors open, as opportunities for acquisitions beginning, Eleanor Jawurlngali Dixon performs live, special guests speak, and the winners of the VLAA and CLC Delegate’s Choice Awards are announced.
Friday begins with a panel hosted by Central Land Council (CLC), including eminent guests – Professor Marcia Langton, who has also written the essay for the catalogue, CLC’s Warren Williams and Dr. Josie Douglas, granddaughter of Vincent Lingiari, Rosie Smiler, and artists, Lindy Brodie and Ned Kelly, both active in the Singleton Water License Campaign.
The talks continue with artists, advocates and their descendants coming together from many different families and communities to share their stories. Through it all, there’s acknowledgement that art plays a part in the continuing work of reclamation, in the struggles, successful claims, and ongoing communication of Aboriginal connection with Country.
“Art has been part of Land Rights in numerous ways. Whether it's people painting up [their bodies] and dancing at hearings with land rights commissioners, or paintings that have been made on conventional canvas, documenting those connections like a title deed, art demonstrates that ongoing connection,” says Perkins.
“By painting the country and showing how beautiful it is, the work really expresses that enduring familial relationship. You know, land is not property. It's something the Ancestors created. Ancestors remain in the land. People portray Country in a way that is very intimate and familiar and loving. It's like a portrait of family. Art shows our country as a corporeal entity… There are works that celebrate the wins we have had, that reuniting with family, that reclaiming of Country.”
“By painting the country and showing how beautiful it is, the work really expresses that enduring familial relationship. You know, land is not property. It's something the Ancestors created. Ancestors remain in the land. People portray Country in a way that is very intimate and familiar and loving. It's like a portrait of family. Art shows our country as a corporeal entity… There are works that celebrate the wins we have had, that reuniting with family, that reclaiming of Country.”
Art has this kind of power. It can symbolise reclamation. It can influence how history is remembered, who is visible, and what is celebrated. Excitingly, a piece that exemplifies this is on loan from the National Portrait Gallery and on display during the exhibition period – the Mervyn Bishop photograph of Vincent Lingiari, Gough Whitlam, and the handful of sand. This loan has been organised by Kelli Cole (Warumungu and Luritja), curator of the VLAA.
Contemporary artworks of cultural visibility and remembrance continue to emerge. The Desert Mob exhibition alone displays nearly 200 works from 32 Art Centres across the central desert region, spanning the Territory, WA and SA, from a range of artists that are emerging and mid-career to veterans with established international profiles. Not only are the works available to view and vote for in People’s Choice, they’re also available to purchase.
To truly get amongst the acquisition opportunities, the Art Market on Saturday is an absolute must. People queue for the opening and flood in for the buzz of art stalls, food trucks and workshops. It’s colourful, vibrant, and celebratory.
“There are always so many really fantastic works. It's very ethical, with us providing the stalls and infrastructure so all the proceeds go directly to artists. The Market evens the playing field between art-lovers and collectors, but you need to be quick. If you see something that speaks to you, you need to grab it,” says Perkins.
Desert Mob, VLAA and satellite events are wonderful in their entirety. Their visual languages speak with contemporary adaptation and deep, ancient continuity. They reclaim ways of seeing and knowing. They celebrate the advocacy that carries culture and country on to future generations. They’re grounding, inspiring, and hopeful. And everyone is welcome to come along.
As Perkins says, it is worth coming to bear witness to this positivity and strength.
“The artists and speakers are all just so brilliant and quietly changing the world. It's really good to acknowledge all of that, to take the time to come together and acknowledge these people have made significant contributions as academics, as artists, as singers, as dancers, as advocates. It's really wonderful.”
Desert Mob 2026
Official Opening & Vincent Lingiari Art Award
THU 10 SEP, 5PM | VLAA 'TIL SUN 18 OCT
Artist Talks
WHEN FRI 11 SEP | 10AM-3.30PM
Art Market Exhibition
WHEN SAT 12 SEP | 10AM-2PM WHEN THU 10 SEP – SUN 25 OCT
COST FREE
AT ARALUEN ARTS CENTRE
INFO desertmob.com
