{"id":777,"date":"2016-05-18T05:27:06","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T05:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/?p=777"},"modified":"2019-09-03T16:08:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T06:08:05","slug":"the-best-indigenous-art-galleries-in-alice-springs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/the-best-indigenous-art-galleries-in-alice-springs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 5 Indigenous art galleries in Alice Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Besides blistering heat, the world\u2019s only land regatta<\/a> and the whole middle-of-nowhere thing, Alice Springs<\/a> is known for one thing: Aboriginal art.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact it’s said that (per capita at least) there’s more galleries in Alice Springs than anywhere else in Australia. Not hard when you have so few ‘capitas’, but still…<\/p>\n

You could spend a happy afternoon just browsing the galleries and print shops that line Todd Mall in the centre of town, but there are a bunch of smaller spaces and artists communities that are well worth a visit. Travellers\u00a0can browse, learn a bit of history about local Papunya Tula and Utopia artists, and even watch a few resident pros at work. And if you\u2019d like a piece of your very own to take home, there are plenty of art centres\u00a0to suit every hip pocket.<\/p>\n

Here are our favourite spots in town for world-class Aboriginal art.<\/p>\n

Araluen Arts Centre<\/h3>\n
\"Art

Easy to fall in love. Image c\/o Emily-McCulloch<\/p><\/div>\n

No visit to The Alice would be complete without a visit to Araluen<\/a>. It\u2019s the epicenter of the town\u2019s visual art and performance scene.Most of the focus is on contemporary Aboriginal art, with a mix of local feature artists and travelling exhibitions passing through. The jewel in the Centre\u2019s crown though is the Albert Namatjira gallery, which houses a selection of paintings from the famous artist. Araluen was built around a 300 year-old Corkwood Tree, which you can check out in the Sculpture Garden \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s a sacred site for the local Arrernte people. Araluen\u2019s website<\/a> has a list of upcoming events; well worth a look if you\u2019re planning a few nights in Alice Springs.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0ALICE SPRINGS: 5 UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURES WITHIN A TWO-HOUR DRIVE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ironwood Arts<\/h3>\n

One for the serious collectors. If you\u2019re after a beautiful indigenous painting for your wall at home, head to Ironwood Arts<\/a> on Brumby Road in the little satellite town of Ilparpa (just outside Alice Springs proper). They stock a great mix of known and emerging local artists, and each canvas comes with a little photo and bio of the painter, along with a certificate of authenticity. Good for peace of mind. There are sculptures from local artists too if your tastes run to the more 3-dimensional. Ironwood is open by appointment only, but if you\u2019re serious about your Aboriginal art, it\u2019s worth it. Just give them a call and set up a viewing time \u2013 the drive from the centre of Alice isn\u2019t too far.<\/p>\n

TAKE A LOOK AT OUR TRIPS TO ULURU HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Iwantja Arts and Crafts<\/h3>\n
\"Local

Local artist. Image c\/o Iwantja Arts Centre<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re in Alice Springs<\/a> and you\u2019re not visiting some of the smaller indigenous communities nearby, you\u2019re doing The Outback wrong. Places like Iwantja, about 120 clicks south of Kulgera, are what this region is all about. The Arts and Crafts centre<\/a> there is a self-supporting, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to training and showcasing the best local talent. And the cool bit is you can actually go and watch some of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara artists at work, even talk to them about their style and their story. You won\u2019t get experiences like this in Alice Springs itself \u2013\u00a0you have to go looking for them. The Iwantja Community Gallery<\/a> is inside the Arts Centre and has a range of acrylic paintings, etchings, woven baskets and leather goods for sale. And you can rest easy knowing every dollar is going to a good cause.<\/p>\n

WANT TO VISIT ALICE SPRINGS? TAKE A LOOK AT OUR RANGE OF TRIPS SO YOU CAN VISIT THESE GALLERIES<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Keringke Arts<\/h3>\n
\"Exemples

Keringke Arts Centre. Image c\/o Daf Hewson<\/p><\/div>\n

Santa Teresa is a little community of about 500 people. 80km south-east of Alice Springs<\/a>, surrounded by rock art and ceremonial indigenous sites. Culture beats strong here, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Keringke Arts Centre. Keringke is a working studio environment where artists can work on canvas, ceramics, furniture and (weirdly) homemade guitars. The centre was built in 1989 (a pioneer for its time) and is 100% owned by the Eastern Arrernte People \u2013 all profits go back to helping the community. Keringke style isn\u2019t like other aboriginal art. Santa Teresa women tend to work in very bright colours, pulling influences from dozens of Dreamtime stories around the country and the landscape. The result is something fresh, original and very contemporary.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR TRAVEL TIPS, COMPETITIONS, GIVEAWAYS & MORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mbantua Aboriginal Art Gallery<\/h3>\n

Mbantua<\/a> is smack bang in the middle of Alice Springs<\/a> itself, just near the corner of Todd St and Gregory Terrace. It\u2019s one of the more popular galleries for tourists. You won\u2019t get quite the same community feel as you will in Santa Teresa, but it\u2019s a good starting point if you\u2019re looking to get a feel for the local style. The gallery represents over 200 local artists from the Utopia region (north-east of Alice). There are smaller prints and jewellry, as well as larger original canvases. The gallery even has its own range of giftware (Utopia Giftware). You can buy wine coolers, notepads and lots of other knickknacks, all decorated with aboriginal designs from up-and-coming local artists. Well worth a stop if you\u2019re passing through Todd St Mall.<\/p>\n

Ready to\u00a0see ‘The Alice’ for yourself? We’ve got group tours departing year round. Check them out.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Feature image c\/o netsvictoria.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Besides blistering heat, the world\u2019s only land regatta and the whole middle-of-nowhere thing, Alice Springs is known for one thing: Aboriginal art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[163,34,18],"class_list":["post-777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","tag-alice-springs","tag-indigenous","tag-northern-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2245,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions\/2245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}