One of the oldest Aboriginal art festivals returns to Alice Springs

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Featuring exhibitions, performances and workshops Desert Mob 2024 will welcome some of the biggest names in Australian art and the promise of a bright future for the enduring artistic expression.

Transcript

00:00Opening a curtain into the central desert, a dazzling artwork that's been years in the

00:08making.

00:09They have been working hard to collect all the nuts.

00:12Thousands of gum nuts meticulously painted and threaded by artists from Haas Bluff, Ekunji,

00:19showing off the natural beauty of the remote community west of Alice Springs.

00:24As you can see, and visitors will see, the works sort of speak for themselves.

00:28It's a really powerful expression of desert culture.

00:31Now in its 33rd year, Desert Mob brings together hundreds of Indigenous artists from across

00:37the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

00:42Their work is deeply personal and varied, both in material and style, from dot paintings

00:48to wood carvings and pottery.

00:51Pottery is inspiration to our heart and doing our lifestyle, telling the history, our pot

00:59will be there forever, for our history.

01:02Thousands of art collectors and enthusiasts are drawn to Alice Springs each year, with

01:07the festival gaining a reputation for launching the careers of emerging artists and supporting

01:14the industry's development.

01:15It's so important that people get to see their art on the wall and be celebrated in the kind

01:20of local context, as opposed to in Sydney or Melbourne.

01:25With the younger artists and the more senior artists represented here, again, it just bodes

01:29well for the future.

01:30You know, that legacy is pretty much assured.

01:33Growing from strength to strength in the cultural heart of the nation.

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