Feature Desert Mob First held in 1990 at Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs, Desert Mob is the oldest of Australia’s thriving annual program of Aboriginal art fairs. With its 30th anniversary coming up in September 2020, Kate Hennessy looks back on Desert Mob 2019. Kate Hennessy
Preview Bhenji Ra dreams in dance In Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon, now showing at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Australian-Filipina artist Bhenji Ra explores pangalay—a dance form indigenous to the Tausug and Bajau peoples from the Sulu Archipelago and Sabah in the Philippines. Josephine Mead
Feature Taking flight with Sorawit Songsataya Shaped by the movement between histories and cultures, the work of Thai-born, Aotearoa-raised artist Sorawit Songsataya draws on mystery and plurality as a means of knowing the world. The artist is now showing at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Monash University Museum of Art. Amelia Winata
Preview The return of the Koori Mail Indigenous Art Award The Koori Mail Indigenous Art Award returns to Lismore Regional Gallery for its second iteration following the gallery’s restoration after the 2022 floods. The award celebrates the vibrancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art across Australia. Josephine Mead
Opinion Home truths Material concerns such as housing can determine an artist’s wellbeing and sense of possibility—an idea that is often overlooked by romantic ideas of art making that are out of sync with our current reality. How can artists navigate a society in which reliable shelter is elusive? And can art itself help us reimagine what it means to achieve secure footing in an increasingly volatile world? Jo Higgins investigates. Jo Higgins
Preview William Robinson’s natural instincts Since 2009, the William Robinson Gallery has held regular exhibitions showcasing the prolific Queensland artist’s oeuvre. The latest is Numinous, focusing on landscape painting and showing the natural world through Robinson’s careful eye. Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen