Art

A New Indigenous Owned and Operated Art Gallery That Gives Back To Its Community

In late 2018 we were introduced to APY Gallery, an indigenous owned and operated gallery in the heart of Darlinghurst, Sydney. This month the APY Art Centre Collective has expanded to open The APY Gallery Adelaide, a gallery, studio space, and workshop space that has been in the making for a decade.

This much-needed community hub also serves as a meeting place and resource centre for Anangu people from the APY lands seeking medical treatment in Adelaide, away from their homes and communities.

Written
by
Sally Tabart

The new APY Gallery Adelaide space opened on May 17th. Photo Grant Hancock.

Freda Brady from Tjala Arts. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Left: Inside the Adelaide Gallery. Photo Grant Hancock. Right: Tjulayta Tjilya in the APY Studio Adelaide. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Bernard Tjalkari painting in the APY Studio, a place designed to encourage community and provide support to Anangu people in Adelaide. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Painting by Michelle Lewis from Ernabella Arts. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Painting by Judy Martin of Mimili Maku Arts. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Nyunmiti Burton and Josina Pumani at APY Studio Adelaide. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Tjala Arts collaborative painting work. Photo – Meg Hansen.

Writer
Sally Tabart
28th of May 2019

The concept behind APY Art Centre Collective galleries is to provide a platform for young and emerging APY artists, offering financial independence and employment through the sales of work. This has been an incredibly successful undertaking for the indigenous owned and operated organisation, with APY Gallery Sydney generating over $700,000 in sales in its first 12 months of operation. But the whole purpose of the APY Galleries is about connection and community, and this new Adelaide outpost takes that to a whole new level.

Partnering with Purple House, a not for profit that provides safe access to dialysis and support across remote Australia, this new APY Art Centre Collective initiative links indigenous people away from their homes and communities seeking medical treatment in Adelaide with the right support service providing for health and wellbeing across all areas. ‘It’s a holistic program of support’, explains Skye Omeara, APY Art Centre Collective manager.

Comprising the gallery, a studio and office space, APY Gallery Adelaide is a vital hub of connection, community and support for Anangu people. ‘For so many years we have wanted a gallery and studio for our family members in Adelaide,’ tells artist Nyunmiti Burton of the Tjala Arts Centre, ‘It took a lot of work but when we celebrated our opening on Friday night there were happy tears for many of us’.  

Artist Yaritji Young of Tjala Arts added, ‘now we have a place for Anungu where people can continue to make work, and stay connected to their communities when they are away from their country’.

APY Gallery Adelaide
Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm
9 Light Square
Adelaide, 5000

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