See the 2023 Telstra NATSIAA through a virtual gallery tour

We are proud to support the 2023 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (Telstra NATSIAA), now in their 40th year. This is our 32nd year of support and every year has brought something new.
Genelle Sharples · 11 August 2023 · 2 minute read

Keith Wikmunea is the winner of the 2023 Telstra Art Award.

Keith Wikmunea, a Thu’ Apalech man and artist from Aurukun in Queensland, is the winner of the prestigious 2023 Telstra Art Award for his sculptural piece titled Ku’, Theewith & Kalampang: The White Cockatoo, Galah and the wandering Dog, 2023.

Ku’, Theewith & Kalampang: The White Cockatoo, Galah and the wandering Dog is a sculpture that represents who I am as a Thu’ Apalech man from the Cape York Peninsula. 

“The colours on this tree are specific to my clan, the Thu’ Apalech people. In Wik-Mungkan, my first spoken language, we call this tree yuk thanchal. 

This tree is also known as milkywood [sic] in English and is the same tree that my ancestors have been using since the beginning of time. My Puulwuy [father’s totem] and my Kathwuy [mother’s totem] are represented here too.”

246 entries, 63 finalists, six category winners

Telstra NATSIAA is Australia’s longest running and most prestigious Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art award. As well as the 2023 Telstra Art Award worth $100,000, six winners each won a category worth $15,000.

If you're on a computer, you can visit the NATSIAA gallery website and navigate with your mouse. If you’re on a phone, you can also load the virtual gallery directly

If you want to look at a specific artwork, we’ve got direct links to the winning pieces down below.

If you’d like to visit MAGNT and the Telstra NATSIAA Exhibition in person, it is open until Sunday 18 February 2024, in Darwin in the Northern Territory on Larrakia Country.

Visit the 2023 NATSIAA virtually

Travel through the gallery at your own pace >

Or, you can click on each link below to jump directly to each artwork in the virtual gallery space.

By Genelle Sharples

Principal - Media, Sponsorship, Awards & Experiential

Genelle is currently accountable for leading the teams responsible for Paid Media strategy and buying including the in-house trading desk; Partnerships - including NRL, AFL, Netball, FFA The Australian Ballet, NATSIAA, MCA, NGV, EVT TEG and Frontier; Awards - Telstra Business Awards and the Telstra Business Women's Awards. Genelle is a member of the Enterprise Leadership Forum and the Exec leadership team in CMO.

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