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 A celebration of art, culture and storytelling from First Nations artists

2026 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Finalists Announced

More than 60 exceptional artists have been named as finalists in the 2026 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), highlighting the strength, diversity and innovation of contemporary Indigenous art across Australia.

 

Now in its 43rd year, Telstra NATSIAA continues to bring together artists from remote art centres to inner-city studios, with culture, storytelling and creative innovation converging to celebrate the very best of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

 

The 64 compelling works, selected from 221 entries, reflect themes of intergenerational storytelling, the continuation of cultures, connections to Country and the enduring impacts of Australia’s colonial history on individuals and communities.

 

Presented by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in partnership with Telstra, the awards remain a vital platform for nurturing and celebrating Indigenous artists, providing a national and international stage to showcase their work.


This year we also mark 40 years of the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award. This award commemorates Wandjuk Marika OBE (1927-1987), a Yolngu man, artist and leader.


Spanning categories from bark painting and sculpture to multimedia and works on paper, Telstra NATSIAA captures the diversity and innovation of Indigenous art. Artists from across the country share in a total prize pool of $190,000, including the prestigious $100,000 Telstra Art Award.

Telstra Art Award - $100,000
Telstra General Painting Award - $15,000
Telstra Bark Painting Award - $15,000
Telstra Work on Paper Award - $15,000

Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award (sponsored by Telstra) - $15,000
Telstra Emerging Artist Award - $15,000
Telstra Multimedia Award - $15,000

42 finalists are from the Northern Territory, 10 from South Australia, 2 from Queensland, 6 from Western Australia, 1 from New South Wales, 1 from the ACT and 2 artists from Victoria were selected.

Finalists

2026 Telstra Art Award Winner

20260806NATSIA-1.jpg

Ryan Presley

Marri Ngarr language

lives Logan, Qld
 

Our lifestyle of tranquillity undisturbed 2026

oil paint on polyester
187 x 152 x 4 cm

Northern Territory born artist Ryan Presley is the prestigious 2026 Telstra Art Award winner with his standout oil painting Our lifestyle of tranquillity undisturbed 2026.

 

Dr Ryan Presley was born in 1987 in Mparntwe / Alice Springs and is a Marri Ngarr artist currently based on Yugambeh Country (Logan City) in south-east Queensland. His practice spans painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, installation and writing, and is marked by a deep engagement with the visual economies of power, memory and resistance.

Ryan’s work critically recomposes grand narratives, foregrounding Indigenous autonomy and challenging colonial modes of representation and understanding. Known for combining technical precision with conceptual rigour, his projects interrogate the symbolic and material legacies of settler colonialism – particularly through the lens of currency, ritual and state authority. He exhibits internationally, including Gadigal/ Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales (2023) and Artspace (2019), Eindhoven’s Van Abbemuseum (2018) and Vienna’s Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste (2021).

His major solo exhibition, Fresh Hell, was co-commissioned by Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (Kaurna/Adelaide) and Gertrude Contemporary (Naarm/Melbourne). Ryan is represented by Milani Gallery and holds a PhD in Art Theory (Griffith University 2016). He is a recent recipient of a 2025 Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship.

2026 Telstra NATSIAA

Category Winners

Telstra General Painting Award
Vanessa Inkamala
Western Aranda language


lives Mparntwe / Alice Springs, NT

Arrkurla Nukala / Lyaarta Ntema 2026
recycled road sign, gesso primer, gouache watercolour paint, house paint, cold wax medium
Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award (sponsored by Telstra)
Napuwarri Marawili
Yolŋu Matha language


Lives Yilpara, NT

Djambatj – Deadly hunter 2025
earth pigments on wood
69.3 x 9.8 x 7.4 cm; 94.5 x 10.5 x 7.3 cm
Telstra Bark Painting Award
Barayuwa Munuŋgurr
Miwatj language

Lives Rurraŋala, NT

The hidden reef at Yarrinya 2025
earth pigments on stringybark
165.3 x 79 cm
 
Telstra Work on Paper Award
Jenna Mayilema Lee
Larrakia, KarraJarri and Wardaman languages

Lives Melbourne, Vic

Taking back taken 2026
printed paper maps, book-binding thread, archival glue, wire
54 x 150 x 13 cm (overall)
Telstra Multimedia Award
Colin Heenan-Puruntatameri
Tiwi language

Lives Milikapiti, NT

Ngirramini Ngini Amparruwu (The story of the widow) 2026
single-channel video, 3:00 minutes, with Yirriwala and Timirrikimaka (fighting sticks),
locally sourced earth pigments on ironwood
70 x 20 x 4 cm (overall)
Telstra Emerging Artist Award
Guruwuy Murrinyina
Yolŋu Matha language


lives Gäṉgan, NT

Prismatic arc 2026
earth pigments on stringybark hollow pole
295 x 29 x 36 cm

Photos: Charlie Bliss

Highly Commended

Highly Commended - Telstra General Painting Award
2026 NATSIAA_Wulu Marawili_01_AC.jpg
Wulu Marawili
Garraŋali – Sanctuary 2026
Highly Commended - Telstra Work on Paper Award
 Robert Namarnyilk
Marlgawa Ngerrmi Djang (Mother Country and Mother Rainbow Serpent Dreaming) 2026
Highly Commended - Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award
Kevin ‘Sooty’ Welsh
Scarred 2026

Photos: Katherine Travis

Explore all finalists:
Finalists

Meet our Judges for the 2026 Telstra NATSIAA

The 2026 Selection Panel

The Awards have been curated, shortlisted and judged by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peers, Gail Mabo and Dean Greeno alongside 2026 Guest Curator Dr Shannon Brett, and include emerging artists together with some of the most respected and established names in contemporary Indigenous art.

2026 Telstra NATSIAA Key dates

Exhibition | Open from Saturday 27 June 2026 until Monday 24 January 2027
Awards Ceremony | Friday 7 August 2026

2026 Telstra NATSIAA Finalists​

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Contact

Museum and Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory

GPO Box 4646,
Darwin NT 0801

+61 8 8999 8264

info@magnt.net.au
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