For decades, Koorie communities have tirelessly advocated for representation of Victorian First Peoples art and culture, and now this long-term vision is finally coming to life. Set to launch in 2027, the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair will showcase the sovereign and extraordinary artworks of some of Australia’s most instrumental artists from the southeast.

In the lead up to its official launch, the Fair will debut in partnership with the Melbourne Art Fair for the first time this month, offering a special preview for what’s to come. Highlighting the recent works of 37 artists and designers, this showcase is not only an exciting time for collectors, buyers and the arts sector more broadly–it is honouring Victorian First Peoples practices.

Two featured artists, Yorta Yorta, Wurundjeri and Wiradjuri artist Dr Moorina Bonini and Wadawurrung artist and designer Dr Deanne Gilson, both speak to the importance of the Art Fair for South-Eastern Aboriginal artists and the way their families have shaped and inspired their practices in a long line of arts advocacy and celebration of Koorie practitioners.

Born and raised in Naarm/Melbourne, Moorina’s practice disrupts colonial ideas by critiquing Western institutions, informed by her Aboriginal and Italian experiences. Moorina discusses two significant Melbourne-based First Nations women who have inspired her practice; educator, writer and activist Aunty Hyllus Maris and trailblazing artist Destiny Deacon. “Aunty Hyllus Maris was a pivotal figure in the Aboriginal rights movement of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a talented poet and scriptwriter. Similarly, Destiny Deacon has been a trailblazer, opening doors for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the industry. They will always be people I look up to.”

This influence shapes Moorina’s new body of work, following her new commission for More Than a Tarrang (tree): Memory, Material and Cultural Agency exhibited at Melbourne Museum last year. She speaks directly to the harm of Western institutions by wood-burning onto the museum’s old collection boxes. “That was an articulation or re-articulation of cultural knowledge being used to re-scribe new meanings to these wooden containers.”

Moorina has created a new series of scanographic prints that mirror these markings incorporating charcoal from Country. “This work creates dialogue between the past, the present and future. I’ve scanned the print, and the scan is the final work.” She explains the process of the work: “There is this layering in the making that’s happening, and it was important that I scanned the actual markings to replicate the glass pane that exists between the viewer and the final work.”

The series also reevaluates respectful acquisition of Aboriginal art. “This new body of work also brings in new ways of thinking about archiving and collecting today in this contemporary world.” Relationship with history and place is integral to her practice. “On the basis of what the history of Art Fairs or museums and collections and exhibitions [is], there’s a discussion that will happen around this work about the processes of consuming and acquiring cultural practice and caretaking.”

Born in Naarm, Deanne grew up outside of Ballarat on her ancestral Country with her family. Daughter of Aunty Marlene Gilson, Deanne also comes from a strong creative and matriarchal family who deeply inspire her. “My mum is just on fire. She’s 81 and she’s still painting all day, every day. Seven days a week now.” Deanne’s mother is an important figure to her and the Koorie community, acknowledging the critical roles Elders play in Victorian art movements. “We’re not isolated. We are actually connected to family when we’re making these works. We don’t just sit on our own and create.” As part of the Fair, Deanne presents five paintings that explore her Creation Story, weaving together her connection to Country, culture, and ancestral knowledge.

Deanne’s work is informed by direct engagement with Country, particularly the birds from her Creation Story, plants and changing seasons, Ceremony, family, artefacts and cultural heritage. It is grounded in overturning the colonial gaze to centre Indigenous perspectives. Her process involves sourcing her own ochre, implementing traditional Wadawurrung marks consisting of diamond patterns, cross-hatching and ‘wave patterns’ from shields, which she weaves throughout her paintings, as well as the use of gold leaf.

“Our ancestral Country is the gold fields in Ballarat and Geelong,” she says.  “So the gold for me is really saying ‘we are the gold, we’re more important than gold.” The gold leaf is integral to Deanne’s storytelling. “I try to overturn the colonial gaze with that use of the gold and [speak to] the destruction of our people and loss of culture and family.” Through some tongue-in-cheek humour, Deanne’s new works for the Art Fair also platform joy, healing and truth-telling. “It is all political even though it seems all nice and happy–I’m still making my point.”

It is no coincidence that Moorina and Deanne both use charcoal in their work, directly connecting them with Country and kin. Moorina adds: “The way that I continue to learn is always in the stream and work of the legacies of my family or the legacies of community members.” This showcase is a huge milestone for South-Eastern communities. “This feels like a really big step forward in the conversation around us South-Eastern mobs, especially our Koorie artists and creative-based community members, having that platform and voice to say, ‘we have and have done really incredible work down here.’”

For Victorian First Peoples, the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair debut showcase is historical for Australian contemporary art—something we should all be proud of. Deanne said it best: “These are our connections, these are our stories, and no one can take these away from us, no matter what.”

Melbourne Art Fair
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
20—23 February