Lismore Regional Gallery is honoured to be hosting this important award for innovative contemporary indigenous artistic practice. In this, the first year the Award has run, the finalists’ works show the enormous depth of talent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in Australia. There are representatives from every state and territory, with strong representation from Bundjalung artists and Aboriginal artists practicing in the Northern Rivers.
The artworks in the exhibition reflect rich lives; the places the artists live and work, and the communities they belong to. In some cases, they attempt to define or understand displacement. They speak to history, identity, and self-empowerment. They are the product of deep thought.
These artworks tell stories, and the artists do not mince their words. They tell us all that Australia is, and has always been, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.
Lismore Regional Gallery acknowledges the Widjabul-Wyabul people of the Bundjalung Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters the Gallery is located. We pay respect to ancestors and Elders past, present and emerging and extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
