Melbourne Art Fair returns in the Australian summer, 22–25 February 2024 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, to present new and iconic artists from 60 of the region’s leading contemporary art galleries.
The program supports the fully funded participation of four Indigenous-owned Art Centres at Melbourne Art Fair 2024 with an aim to promote and provide curatorial and commercial opportunities for Indigenous Australian artists working on Country and in communities across Australia.
This program has been developed in response to the hugely successful Melbourne Art Fair 2022 art centre program, which provided unparalleled curatorial and commercial opportunities for participating art centres, generating an estimated $450,000 in total artwork sales for the five participants across the four-day fair.
Art Centres in the 2022 program included Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, Yirrkala; Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association, Milikapiti; Milingimbi Art, Milingimbi; Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Kununurra; and Warlayirti Artists, Balgo.
As Principal Partner of the 2022 edition of Melbourne Art Fair, Bennelong Funds Management pledged support for a $10,000 acquisition for a work by an Indigenous Australian artist exhibiting in the art centre program, Wanapati Yunupiŋu from Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka.
The piece, titled Gurtha, was gifted by Bennelong Funds Management to Shepparton Art Museum, one of Australia’s most prominent collecting institutions.
As a result of his inclusion in Melbourne Art Fair, Wanapati Yunupiŋu now has commercial representation with one of Australia’s most notable galleries, Tolarno Galleries (Naarm/Melbourne).
Demonstrating the full impact a program like this has on the arts sector and Indigenous communities, Wanapati Yunupiŋu will have a 100 sqm solo show with Tolarno Galleries at Melbourne Art Fair 2024.
The Melbourne Art Fair 2024 William Mora Indigenous Art Centre Program is funded by the Australian Government Office for the Arts Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) Program, and generously supported by Bennelong Funds Management. The program will once again contribute to a high-quality platform for Australian contemporary art and respond to the increasing national and international interest in collecting work by Indigenous Australian artists.
