Presented by Desart, Desert Mob 2023 invites thirty-five Aboriginal art centres and hundreds of Indigenous artists to the Araluen Arts Centre precinct and galleries in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, along with desert communities and families to celebrate their enduring culture from 7 September to 22 October.
Helen Ebatarinja, wearing her mother Roxanne Partick’s rooster dress and rooster soft sculpture. Photographs: Ellanor Webb. Courtesy Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Northern Territory
Returning for the first time since 2019, The Desert Mob Symposium allows audiences to hear from Aboriginal artists about their work, projects, family, and Country. Highlights include two short films by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, a discussion between Tanya Singer (Pitjantjatjara) and Errol Evans (Djabugay and Western Yalanji) on their Furniture Design Collaboration Project with Trent Jansen, and a heartwarming story of a friendship lost and found between Sally M Mulda (Tangentyere Artists) and Marlene Rubuntja (Yarrenyty Arltere Artists).
Public programs reveal a live ceramics demonstration with artists of Ernabella Arts; Arrenyty Arltere Artists soft sculpture workshop; and the Desert Mob After Dark with curator talks by Hetti Perkins and Aspen Beattie with food, wine, and special musical performances. The Desert Mob Marketplace features over thirty stalls with paintings, ceramics, punu, weaving, sculpture, textiles, and clothing from across Central Australia, accompanied by free activities such as sgraffito and soft sculpture workshops and language classes. Meanwhile, a rich selection of satellite programs visits Tangentyere Artists, Papunya Tula Artists, and RAFT artspace, to name a few.
Finally, The Desert Mob 2023 exhibition is an invitation to view hundreds of works from art centres across Central Australia – this year, in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and online from 8 September.
