We are putting out our newsletter early this month to highlight the First Nations Showcase coming up at the National Multicultural Festival this Saturday, 7 February – lots of great acts, see the full program here. Also at the MultiCulti, ANTaR ACT will have a stall on Sunday, the community day. If you can make it on Sunday, please come and visit our stand on Lower City Walk. We would love to chat.
It was encouraging to see so many people at the Sovereignty Day rally on 26 January, in Canberra and all around the country, though still so far to go in reflecting on the past and what the day means. Here are some photos from Janet Hunt of the rally from the start at Civic and at the Tent Embassy.
ANTaR ACT Organising Group
The next meeting of the ANTaR ACT organising group will be at 6pm on Monday 9 February, in person at the Friends Meeting House, corner of Bent and Condamine Streets, Turner. If you would like to join us and be involved in our ongoing advocacy and actions, please come along or contact us (but see the note below on our email problems).
We’ve recently updated our Useful Links page on our website (https://antaract.org.au/useful-links/). Please let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions for links that might be part of this resource. The page covers:
- Campaigns we support
- Official organisations in the ACT
- Local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
- Local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture
Email problems
Our apologies if you have had difficulty contacting us. We thought the issue had been resolved last year, but we have realised that emails are not working again. It is very frustrating – we’ve contacted the website hosting company. As a small volunteer group with limited resources, these technical issues are proving difficult to solve.
For now, if you need to contact us, the best options are via Facebook, Instagram, comments on our website or via a committee member directly.
Events
First Nations Showcase at the National Multicultural Festival
11am – 8.30pm, Saturday 7 February, Glebe Park – Woodlands Stage
Come and celebrate First Nations music and cultural and the First Nations Showcase at the National Multicultural Festival. First Nations market stalls from 10.30am.
Program:
- 11.30 – Welcome to Country and event kick-off
- 11.55 Ymkembruk Ngunnawal Dance Academy
- 12.15pm Bama Dreaming Torres Strait islander Dancers
- 1.35pm Lillian and Boronia Fromyhr
- 2.55pm Belle Whyte
- 3.40pm Peter and Shane Riley
- 4.30pm Festival Parade (break in performances)
- 5.30pm Dale Huddleston
- 6.30pm Microwave Jenny – Tessa Nuku and Brendon Boney
- 7.30pm Soul & Stone
For more information about the National Multicultural Festival, see: https://multiculturalfestival.com.au/. For the First Nations Showcase, see: https://www.facebook.com/naidocACT.
Author Talk: Darren Rix, Craig Cormick, authors of Warra Warra Wai
2-3pm, Saturday 7 February, Civic Library, London Circuit
Join Darren Rix and Craig Cormick, winners of the ACT Book of the Year Award 2025, for an author talk on their book Warra Warra Wai. This acclaimed book, offers a powerful and collaborative First Nations perspective on the arrival of James Cook and its ongoing impact. Through thoughtful storytelling and deep cultural insight, the authors encourage readers to reflect on history, identity, and the ways our shared past continues to shape the present.
For more information and registration (free event), see: https://marion.ink/opportunities-list/cormick-rix.
Garabari
Thurs 19 and Fri 20 February (various performances), The Playhouse Stage
A gripping dance of story and rhythm where Wiradjuri culture meets pulsing techno energy, Garabari invites you to plunge into the swirling depths of a new civic ritual and experience culture as a living connection between people and Country. This is your chance to participate in a millennia-old ritual on a monumental scale.
Developed on Wiradjuri Country with Elders and artists, Garabari shares the Giilang (story and song) of Marramalngidyal Marrambidyagu, the making of the Murrumbidgee River, gifted by the late Uncle James Ingram.
For more information and bookings, see: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/garabari-2026/.
House of Heroes
7pm, Friday 20 February, National Portrait Gallery
The annual NPG 18+ late-night event. Curated by sensational duo Will and Garrett Huxley, aka The Huxleys, this iteration celebrates Yankunytjatjara artist Kaylene Whiskey and her vibrant exhibition Super Kaylene Whiskey. This immersive night will be like stepping into a Kaylene Whiskey artwork, with glittering live performances, creative pop-ups, interactive workshops, art tours and a dancefloor pulsing with Kaylene’s favourite music superstars like Dolly Parton, Cher and Tina Turner.
For more information and bookings: https://www.portrait.gov.au/calendar/house-of-heroes-late-night. See also more information about the exhibition below.
Enlighten Festival
Friday 27 February – Monday 9 March
Illuminations include:
- SOFT RAIN, STRONG COUNTRY (Kukawarra kwatja, pmara nhanhanama marra inthurra) by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Grace Kemarre Robinya at the National Gallery of Australia: Mparntwe/Alice Springs-based artists will bring to life Beautiful Ulkumanu (old woman), an ambitious soft sculpture by Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, who awakens from rainclouds painted by Western Arrarnta/Arrernte/Luritja/Anmatyerr artist Grace Kemarre Robinya.
- Queens of the Desert by Kaylene Whiskey at the National Portrait Gallery: created with Studio Gilay, celebrating First Nations joy, strength, community and care for Country.
Also as part of The Night Shift, see the exhibition Super Kaylene Whiskey at special late night openings (5-8pm) on Friday 27 February, Saturday 28 February, Friday 6 March, Saturday 7 March and Sunday 8 March. Super Kaylene Whiskey – Enlighten Festival.
Red, Yellow, BlakListed – First Nations Comedy Showcase
7pm, Wednesday 11 March, Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre
Part of the Canberra Comedy Festival.
Red, Yellow, Blaklisted brings a fierce lineup of First Nations comedians delivering sharp wit, bold truth-telling, and unapologetic cultural pride. Expect storytelling, satire, and punchlines that hit hard as Blak voices take centre stage. Funny, fearless, and unforgettable — get ready to be Blaklisted.
For more information and bookings: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/red-yellow-blak-listed-2026/.
Exhibitions
Super Kaylene Whiskey
To Monday 9 March 2026, National Portrait Gallery
Super Kaylene Whiskey celebrates one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, proud Yankunytjatjara woman Kaylene Whiskey. This major survey brings together works from across Whiskey’s career, showcasing her dynamic practice that is grounded in stories of First Nations joy and strength. Drawn from public and private collections, the exhibition features paintings, video work and installations from her early career to now, as well as a newly commissioned portrait.
Daily exhibition tours (3pm) and creative activities in the art making space.
For more information, see: https://www.portrait.gov.au/exhibitions/kaylene-whiskey-2025.
5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain
To Sunday 26 April 2026, Level 1, Gallery 12, National Gallery of Australia
After the rain there are always new beginnings.
The 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial, After the Rain, features 10 large-scale, immersive and multi-disciplinary installations that celebrate inter-generational legacies and cultural warriors of the past, present and future.
The Triennial brings together commissioned work by established and emerging First Nations artists from across Australia, creating an important platform for art and ideas.
Each iteration of the Triennial is led by a First Nations curator with an original vision.
Artistic Director for the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial is Tony Albert, Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples, one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists.
Albert weaves together projects by Alair Pambegan, Aretha Brown, Blaklash, Dylan Mooney, Hermannsburg Potters, Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre and Vincent Namatjira, Jimmy John Thaiday, Naminapu Maymuru-White, Thea Anamara Perkins, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Grace Kemarre Robinya, and Warraba Weatherall to tell stories through the universal language of visual art.
For more information, see: https://nga.gov.au/exhibitions/fifth-national-indigenous-art-triennial/
Other First Nations exhibitions at the National Gallery
The National Gallery of Australia has an extensive collection from First Nations artists. In addition to the exhibitions mentioned above, other displays celebrating First Nations art and culture include:
Hot Tropics: Hot Tropics brings together works by First Nations artists who live in, or are connected to, the tropic and subtropical zones of Australia—an area encompassing Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, inclusive of Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islands. Finishes Sunday 8 February 2026.
Heavens Above: Heavens Above showcases the epic Seven Sisters creation story through a selection of works by First Nations artists from the national collection. Through sculpture and paintings on bark and canvas, artists from the Northern Territory and South Australia tell their different versions of a narrative that reveals how the Pleiades constellation and the star Orion were formed in Ancestral times. Finishes Monday 9 March 2026.
Talking Blak: Talking Blak is an ode to First Nations women and non-binary people who fight against sexism and racism through their art. For these artists, sexism and racism exist as products of colonisation—to be continuously resisted. Finishes Monday 9 March 2026.
Yuk Wuy Min Ngantamp – Aurukun’s artistic legacy: Yuk Wuy Min Ngantamp—Aurukun’s artistic legacy showcases the art and culture of First Nations artists from the Aurukun Community. Featuring major senior figures, as well as younger artists, the exhibition highlights intergenerational artistic expression and the transfer of cultural knowledge. Finishes Monday 9 March 2026.
Hermannsburg: The Hermannsburg School is an art movement pioneered by Western Arrarnta artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959). This exhibition displays works by Namatjira, including painted spearthrowers, alongside watercolours by family members including sons Enos and Ewald Namatjira, son-in-law Benjamin Landara, and brother-in-law and ‘breakaway’ painter Otto Pareroultja. Ceramics by Judith Pungarta Inkamala, who grew up watching Namatjira paint, are displayed alongside pots by Carol Panangka Rontji, demonstrating the stylistic evolutions of the Hermannsburg School.
Featured works emphasise artists’ connections to Country and the diversity embedded within this landscape—from airy, tree-lined vistas to red, rocky escarpments and gorges. Finishes Sunday 23 August 2026.
ANTaR ACT acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which Canberra is situated, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region. We also acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may visit this area.