$4m partnership for National Gallery, Wesfarmers

The National Gallery of Australia and longstanding indigenous arts partner, Wesfarmers Arts, have today announced a $4 million partnership over six years.

The partnership includes a major international touring exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait art in Asia titled Indigenous Australian Masterpieces, which will launch in 2020.

Co-curated between the two organisations, the exhibition will travel to Singapore and cities in China, showing rare works from the 1800s through to Albert Namatjira’s watercolours, the Papunya movement, and contemporary works of Australian artists.

The project will be an Indigenous-led and developed initiative, providing an opportunity for alumni of the Wesfarmers Arts Indigenous Arts Leadership Program to work at an international level.

The project also involves the commissioning of a major new work of art that will be gifted to the National Gallery of Australia and offered to international exhibition collaborators.

The new partnership builds on an existing program of support for Indigenous art exhibitions and artists over eight years.

Wesfarmers will support the development of a new digital platform to celebrate Indigenous art and culture, video content to share stories related to the National Indigenous Art Triennial, year-round Indigenous events and programming, and growing the leadership, scholarship and fellowship programs to increase Indigenous participation in the arts sector in Australia and internationally.

“We are grateful and honoured to grow our partnership with Wesfarmers who have shown that generosity and leadership in the arts can make a major difference in the cultural lives of Australians,” said NGA director Nick Mitzevich.

Since 2009 the NGA’s partnership with Wesfarmers Arts has seen visitors in seven cities enjoy the National Indigenous Art Triennials, and 84 Indigenous arts professionals graduate from leadership and fellowship programs.

“Wesfarmers is very pleased to be deepening its long-term commitment with the National Gallery of Australia so we can continue to promote and celebrate the culture of our First Peoples and take their stories to the world,” said Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott.