Melbourne Art Foundation Launches William Mora Indigenous Art Centre Program
Melbourne Art Foundation today announces the launch of the William Mora Indigenous Art Centre Program; supporting the fully funded participation of Indigenous-owned Art Centres at Melbourne Art Fair 2024 with an aim to promote and provide curatorial and commercial opportunities for Indigenous Australian artists working on Country and in communities across Australia.
Supported by the Australian Government Office for the Arts Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) Program, the program will provide a fully funded exhibition package for four Indigenous-owned Art Centres to participate in the 17th edition of Australasia’s premier contemporary art fair, Melbourne Art Fair.
This program has been developed in response to the successful Melbourne Art Fair 2022 IACP program, which was generously funded by both the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) and IVAIS Funds, and delivered with the support of Agency Projects. The 2022 program provided unparalleled curatorial and commercial opportunities for participating art centres, generating an estimated $450K in total artwork sales for the five participants across the four-day fair. Indigenous-owned Art Centres participating in the 2024 program include Moa Arts; Munpui Arts & Crafts Association; Papunya Tjupi Arts; and Wik & Kugu Arts Centre.
The Melbourne Art Fair 2024 William Mora Indigenous Art Centre Program is funded by the Australian Government Office for the Arts Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) Program, and generously supported by Bennelong Funds Management and Morgans. The program will once again contribute to a high-quality platform for Australian contemporary art and respond to the increasing national and international interest in collecting work by Indigenous Australian artists.
Melbourne Art Foundation CEO and Fair Director, Maree Di Pasquale, says “Melbourne Art Foundation acknowledges the continued and generous support of the Australian Government Office for the Arts and its Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program. This important initiative will build on the success of a landmark 2022 program and enable art centres to continue to access new markets through participation in a contemporary fair of global significance. We look forward to connecting an international network of Melbourne Art Fair collectors, curators and buyers to some of the most exciting and critically significant work being produced in Australia today.”
Melbourne Art Fair returns in the Australian summer, 22 – 25 February 2024 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, to present new and iconic artists from 60 of the region’s leading contemporary art galleries and Indigenous-owned Art Centres.
The William Mora Indigenous Art Centre Program is named in honour of the late William Mora, a Victorian art dealer and cultural patron who championed meaningful connections with Indigenous-owned Art Centres within the commercial gallery and art fair context. This program recognises the vital role art centres play in sustaining First Nations arts and communities, and in sharing the stories of Australia’s First Peoples.
