DESERT MOB 2004

5/Sep/2004 - 17/Oct/2004

VENUE: Araluen Galleries

Displays over 400 recent works from 28 Aboriginal art centres in Central Australia and provides a unique opportunity to view and purchase art works from both new and established artists, all in one place, directly from Aboriginal art centres.

The Alice Springs Cultural Precinct is delighted to be the annual host venue for Desert Mob, an exhibition in its 14th year. This year’s exhibition will display over 400 recent works from 28 Aboriginal art centres in Central Australia, with works by artists living and working in remote areas of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view and purchase art works from both new and established artists, all in one place, directly from the art centres.

The Desert Mob Show celebrates and defines a living art movement that is expressed through the heritage values of the oldest living culture in the world. The works of art are diverse and complicated, vibrant and intense, and they reflect the expansive cultural landscape that is the inspiration of the stories. The participating Art Centres are Aboriginal owned and governed, non-profit organisations.

The main focus of these Art Centres is to encourage the production of art and craft by local community artists and to assist them with the sale and promotion of their work. In most communities, Art Centres provide the only source of self-generated income for Aboriginal people. They play an important role in the financial well being of the community but also provide an important platform for cultural maintenance and education.

Desert Mob has become the annual highlight of the Araluen exhibition program, with an increasing number of national and international collectors & researchers returning each year for the show, along with the local community. This is testament to the quality and inventive nature of the artwork produced here in central Australia and the rapid developments encouraged by the remarkable success of the community based art centres.

This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view and purchase art works from both new and established artists, all in one place, directly from the art centres.