The National Indigenous Art Fair will return to the Sydney Harbour foreshore July 2-3 2022 to showcase creations from First Nations artists, designers and makers from around the nation for its third annual art market.

The art fair provides Sydneysiders with two uniquely immersive days of Indigenous Australian art, design, bushfood and culture, and takes place at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks. 

This iconic annual event showcases the latest award-winning ideas, creations and innovations from Indigenous artists, designers and makers from remote art centres across Australia.

Fifty art, craft, bushfood and design stalls, an Indigenous smoking ceremony, First Nations dance performances and choirs, children’s activities, bush food cooking demonstrations and a massive communal weaving project all form part of the two-day event.

“The National Indigenous Art Fair symbolises an incredible gathering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives, with many travelling from the far corners of Australia — places like Ceduna, Haasts Bluff, the Tiwi Islands and Yuendumu. The art fair presents a rare and exciting opportunity for the broader community to interact directly with the makers and hear their stories,” said Peter Cooley, CEO of First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation, founders of the event.

“We’re the first art fair to run live again since COVID struck two years ago, so we’re kicking off the live art fair scene around Australia to a massive Sydney market who are keen to get out and experience the art and atmosphere.”

From artworks to fashion, from jewellery to homewares and from native dyed textiles to children’s puzzles, these inventive artisans are exemplars of sustainability, working closely with the resources found in their own environment, and weaving Care for Country and creativity into one.

Officially welcoming these remote practitioners and regional collectives to Sydney, local artists, designers and makers from Australia’s leading authentic First Nations marketplace – the Blak Markets – will join them in the Overseas Passenger Terminal. There will be up to 50 stallholders at this ethical marketplace, with all proceeds going directly back to the artist and First Nations communities. 

“This year, in addition to inviting remote art centres, the art fair will support NSW regional and remote Indigenous collectives and artists to get to Sydney to connect them with the local marketplace,” said Mr Cooley.

As well as all the inspirational art and design stalls, the National Indigenous Art Fair presents an impressive program of live cultural and performance experiences, running from 10am to 5pm each day.

Early arrivals each morning will have the opportunity to participate in important Indigenous smoking ceremonies and join a procession into the National Indigenous Art Fair, watching as each stall is blessed and cleansed.

Once inside, attendees will be able to enjoy singing performances by Mi-kaisha and Djinama Yilaga Choir and performances by Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness Aboriginal Dance Group and Wagana Dancers. 

For those wanting to get hands-on, there is a unique opportunity to work alongside local Aboriginal weavers on a communal weaving project. Children’s activities will also be a highlight, with storytelling in the sand circle and boomerang painting, and a dance workshop offered on Sunday.

On the bushfood front, Indigenous chef Matthew Atkins will conduct cooking demonstrations, as will Aboriginal cuisine experts Mirritya Mundya. There will also be food trucks at the event, offering up a delicious bushfood feast, and the folks from IndigiGrow nursery will be selling a variety of native bushfood plants and herbs.

“With all of this available for a gold coin donation on entry, the National Indigenous Art Fair has to be the best value day out for Sydneysiders of all ages in history, not to mention an unmissable opportunity to kick off Sydney’s NAIDOC Week celebrations in style,” concluded Peter Cooley.

This third annual event is presented by National Indigenous Art Fair founders, Sydney-based First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation, in proud partnership with the following organisations: the Port Authority of NSW, ABC Radio, University of Technology Sydney, the City of Sydney, and support from the federal government’s Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program and Indigenous Business Australia.

The National Indigenous Art Fair (NIAF) is an ethical marketplace, offering a unique opportunity to buy artworks directly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from remote community-owned art centres in  the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, including:

• Juluwarlu Art Group, Roebourne, WA 

• Artists of Ampilatwatja, near Alice Springs, NT

• Numbulwar Numburindi Arts, Numbulwar, East Arnhem Land, NT

• Munupi Arts & Crafts Association, Pirlangimpi, Melville Island, NT

• Bula’bula Arts Aboriginal Corporation, Winnellie, NT

• Tjarlirli Art, via Alice Springs, NT

• Injalak Arts, Gunbalanya, NT

• Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts, Gapuwiyak Community, East Arnhem Land, NT

• Tangentyere Artists, Alice Springs, NT

• UMI Arts, Manoora, QLD

• Arts Ceduna, Ceduna, SA

• Warnayaka Art and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation, Lajumanu, NT

• Ikuntji Artists, Haasts Bluff, NT

• Ngwarle Untye Art, Merriwa, WA

• Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu, NT

• Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Corindi Beach, NSW

•  Anindilyakwa Arts, Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island, Gulf of Carpentaria, NT

• APY Art Centre Collective, SA
• Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Alice Springs, NT

	Program
National Indigenous Art Fair Program Saturday 2 July 2022
9:45 AM	Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony
10:00 AM	National Indigenous Art Fair Official Opening
All day	Weaving Circle
11:00 AM	Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness Aboriginal Dance Group
NOON	Bushfood Cooking Demonstration with Indigenous Chef Matt Atkins
1:00 PM	Singing Performance:Mi-kaisha
2:00 PM	Larry Brandy Storytelling for children
3:00 PM	Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness Aboriginal Dance Group
4:00 PM	Open mic session
5:00 PM	National Indigenous Art Fair End Close
National Indigenous Art Fair Program Sunday 3 July 2022
10:00 AM	Art Fair Opens
All day	Weaving Circle
10:00 AM	NAIDOC Week Welcome to Country
10:10 AM	Smoking Ceremony and Dance Workshop, Koomurri
10:30 AM -NOON	Boomerang Painting Workshop
11:00 AM	Bushfood Cooking Demonstration with Mirritya Mundya
NOON	Singing Performance by Nadeena Dixon
1:00 PM	Aboriginal Dance Performance Wagana Dancers
2:00 PM	Djinama Yilaga Choir Performance
2:30 PM	Panel Discussion: Get Up, Stand up, Show Up
3:30 PM	Singing Performance by Nadeena Dixon
4:00 PM	Aboriginal Dance Performance: Wagana Dancers
5:00 PM	National Indigenous Art Fair Closes for 2022

For more information, visit niaf.com.au/Facebook event. The Overseas Passenger Terminal is easily accessible by public transport and on foot from Circular Quay.