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.
2026 Telstra Art Award Winner

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

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:

Adam Worrall
MAGNT Director
“The Telstra NATSIAA remains Australia’s longest running and most prestigious Indigenous art award and we are honoured to present the 2026 exhibition featuring this year’s exceptional finalists.”
“This year’s selection highlights the remarkable breadth of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art practice, from emerging voices to highly regarded artists. We look forward to welcoming audiences from across Australia and around the world to experience these works in Darwin.”

Dr Shannon Brett
Wakka Wakka, Butchulla, Gurang Gurang artist and Curator of the 2026 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
“The wide range of materials, techniques and themes represented in this year’s exhibition are beautifully expressed through a superb range of significant works that share Indigenous perspectives from across Australia.”
“Across all career stages, First Nations artists are sharing stories through their creative practice, with language, culture and truth at the forefront.”
Meet our Judges for the 2026 Telstra NATSIAA

Julie Gough
Is an installation, sound, and video artist, writer, and a curator of First People’s Art and Culture at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart. Gough’s research and art practice involves uncovering and re-presenting subsumed and often conflicting histories often referring to her family’s experiences as Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Julie is a Trawlwoolway woman whose Briggs-Johnson-Gower family have lived in the Latrobe region of Northwest Lutruwita (Tasmania) since the 1840s, with Tebrikunna being their Traditional Country in far Northeastern Lutruwita. Julie holds a PhD from the University of Tasmania and has exhibited in more than 200 exhibitions. Gough’s art works are held in many private and most Australian public collections including The National Gallery of Australia, The National Gallery of Victoria, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Art Gallery of South Australia, The Art Gallery of West Australia, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, National Museum of Australia, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Launceston.

Yhonnie Scarce
Born in Woomera, South Australia, and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. Scarce’s interdisciplinary practice explores the political nature and aesthetic qualities of glass and photography. Her work often references the ongoing effects of colonisation on Aboriginal people; in particular, her research has explored the impact of the removal and relocation of Aboriginal people from their homelands and the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families. Family history is central to Scarce’s work, drawing on the strength of her ancestors, she offers herself as a conduit, sharing their significant stories from the past.

Warraba Weatherall
Is a Kamilaroi visual artist, lecturer, and PhD candidate, who is currently based in Meanjin (Brisbane, Australia). Warraba’s artistic practice has a specific interest in archival repositories and structures, which influence our contemporary understanding or history and cultural knowledge systems. In particular, his work explores how social power is codified through visual language and form. Warraba is passionate about shifting cultural norms within the Australian visual arts sector and contributes to the sector through artistic practice, education and curation.
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
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Contact
Museum and Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory
GPO Box 4646,
Darwin NT 0801
E info@magnt.net.au
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