News & Events

Artback NT: Arts Development and Touring has won the:

Excellence Award for Inclusive Art Practice

Presented by Darwin City Council on the International Day of People with Disability, 3rd December 2009 by Alderman Kerry Moir, Acting Deputy Lord Mayor. Photo by Christian (Bong) Ramillo shows Artback NT EO Louise Partos recieving the award.

Muttacar Sorry Business is in the final three for the National Not For Profit - Project of the Year Award - to be announced in March 2010.

The other two shortlisted organisations / projects are:
- Ronald McDonald House Charities
- Reading for Life - Learning Links Project

Muttacar - Sorry Business

In 2008, the Artback NT tour of Muttacar - Sorry Business travelled throughout central Australia for 22 performances and covered over 5000 kilometres. In 2009, Artback NT worked again with the Transport Safety Division of the Department of Planning & Infrastructure and Yirra Yaakin (YY), an Indigenous theatre company based in Western Australia, to tour Muttacar - Sorry Business throughout Darwin and Arnhem Land.

Cast of Muttacar Sorry Business

Yirara College, Alice Springs, July 2008

Photo: Louise Partos

VROOM - Venue Resource Of Original Music

VROOM is a free national online resource for original music touring, created by Music NSW and partnered by Music NT and Artback NT to research and establish the venues component for the Northern Territory.

With well over 1300 venues listed nationawide across VROOM, you can research and plan tours by region, capacity, genre, venue type and more. Explore each of our state sites for fact sheets, contacts, forums and industry info. VROOM aims to help artists, bookers and managers to get their careers on the road.

Check it out at this link VROOM NT

VROOM NT - LAUNCH was held on 14th May 2009 at Kitty O'Sheas, presented by Music NT.

Photo: Louise Partos

Selling Yarns - National Museum of Australia, Canberra

Never to be put off by a logistical or funding challenge Artback NT, with the generous support of the Australia Council for the Arts, arranged for 23 artists to attend the Selling Yarns 2 Conference in Canberra on 6-9 March 2009. This event was an opportunity for artists to see their work in the Visions of Australia funded touring exhibition Recoil: Change and Exchange in Coiled Fibre Art at the National Museum of Australia and, for many, it was the first sighting of these pieces since the work had left their hands.

Photo: Louise Partos

Indigenous Music Emerging Artist Award Winners

2008 - B2M

2009 - Pott Street

Newmont Tanami Sponsorship

In 2008, Artback NT was very excited to enter into a partnership with Newmont Tanami Operations and HWE Mining to sponsor an Award at the Indigenous Music Awards 2008 - 2010. The Award provides skills and industry development to the winner of the Emerging Act of the Year and involves a guaranteed tour of the Northern Territory the following year which would be facilitated and managed by Artback NT: Arts Development and Touring.

The tour will offer a:

-   Community benefit through the presentation of high quality live music performances to regional and remote audiences;

 and the benefit for the performers of

-   Increased recognition musically throughout the Northern Territory and an opportunity to develop regional audiences.

The NT Indigenous Music Awards, presented by Music NT at the Amphitheatre as part of the Darwin Festival each August, are now the NT music industry's highlight of the year. As the only dedicated Indigenous music industry awards in Australia it is an event increasingly gaining a national reputation as a showcase and high quality night of performance. The Awards are broadcast live on Indigenous radio throughout the NT and nationally, and for the first time in 2007, were filmed for TV broadcast on National Indigenous TV.

Artback NT, Newmont Tanami Operations and HWE Mining are proud to sponsor this Award for the next three years.

Above: B2M receiving the 2008 award Below: Pott Street receiving the 2009 award

Desert Mob DanceSite 2009

Presented by Artback NT, DanceSite was again successfully staged at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station on the Desert Mob weekend. DanceSite showcased over 90 Indigenous dancers from Central Australia to an estimated audience of 1500 people including: headline act the Djilpin Dancers from Beswick; Simpson Desert Dancers and Antulye Dancers from Alice Springs; Papunya Tjupi Dancers from Papunya and Yuendumu; Rikina Dancers and Kungkarungkalpa from Amata; Tjanpi Desert Dancers from various communities across the NPY Central Desert region.

Photos at left (T-B): Djilpin finale with audience; Djilpin Dancers; Djilpin Dancers; Papunya Tjupi Dancers

Photos below (L-R): Kungkarangkalpa; Rikina Dancer; Antulye Dancers.

Photographer: Rusty Stewart

Indigenous Traditional Dance (ITD) Project

The ITD project follows from the Indigenous Performing Arts Brokerage Project (IPAB) which gave intensive support to two Aboriginal dance groups from Central Australia - the Nyinkka Nyunyu Dancers and the Janganpa Dancers.

In the IPAB (June 2006 – Dec 2006) there were 6 funded and supported Dance events including: Desert Mob Dancesite, Desart in the Park, Desert Knowledge Symposium, Wurrpurrjinta Cultural Exchange, Day of Difference fund raiser and the tour to the World Deserts Foundations International Festival of Desert People and Cultures in Algeria.

From 2007 onwards, Artback NT, with support from Arts NT and the Australia Council for the Arts has worked to conduct research and consultation with Aboriginal art centres and dance groups throughout Central Australia. This has lead to strategic documentation and planning to promote a coordinated approach to cultural maintenance, traditional dance activities and performance opportunities for Aboriginal traditional dance groups across the tri-state border region of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.

The purpose of the ITD project is to promote cultural maintenance and exchange in relation to traditional dance. These exchanges encourage art centres and dance groups to invite neighboring communities and language groups to come together to share their knowledge and understanding of traditional dance practices from their regions. The ITD project provides community cultural development support, facilitates and organises performance opportunities and provides links and information sharing between Indigenous traditional dance projects, communities and contemporary dance and theatre initiatives.

ITDP 2007-09 funding was through the Northern Territory Government Arts NT Building Strong Arts Business Program, and funding in 2010 has been provided by the Aborginal Benefit Account (FaHCSIA).

Forums for 2009/10 will be held in the following regional and remote communities:

Iwantja, South Australia

Ali Curung, Northern Territory

Santa Teresa, Northern Territory

Papulankutja, Western Australia