Australia’s foremost First Nations art festival is entering a new chapter. The Art Gallery of South Australia has appointed Noongar curator and artist Zali Morgan as Artistic Director of Tarnanthi, alongside landmark funding partnerships with the South Australian Government and BHP.
Morgan, based near Boorloo/Perth, is a Noongar woman with ancestral connections to Whadjuk, Balladong and Wilman Boodjar. She is currently Curator of the Carrolup Collection at John Curtin Gallery and has curated significant exhibitions including All That Country Holds – Art from the Kimberley, launched at the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C. in 2026, and Revealed, Western Australia’s premier Aboriginal art showcase.
“It is both incredibly exciting and deeply humbling to be appointed the Artistic Director of Tarnanthi,” Morgan said. “I’m interested in what happens when artists are empowered to speak on their own terms, and when a festival is less about a single vision and more about a gathering of many voices, stories and ways of seeing.”
Major funding secured
The South Australian Government will be recognised as Principal Partner through a four-year, $4 million agreement from 2026 to 2030. BHP has renewed its decade-long partnership with a new five-year social investment agreement from 2026 to 2031, with a dedicated focus on regional communities across the state.
Since its inception in 2015, Tarnanthi has provided a platform for more than 10,000 First Nations artists. The festival has welcomed 2.56 million visitors and generated $126.5 million in economic expenditure in South Australia. The Tarnanthi Art Fair has seen more than $9.5 million in sales, with every dollar going to artists and communities.
First look at the 2027 program
The 2027 Tarnanthi Festival will run from 22 October 2027 to 16 January 2028. Program highlights include:
Yunupiŋu: Seven Sisters – A landmark survey exhibition of Yolŋu women’s art and culture, featuring works by seven sisters from one of Australia’s most important artistic families: Gaymala, Gulumbu, Barrupu, Nyapanyapa, Djerrkŋu, Dhopiya and Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu. The exhibition assembles paintings, sculpture, works on paper and moving image, revealing each sister’s individual practice and their connection to the Djulpan, the Seven Sisters star group. Developed in collaboration with Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre and the Yunupiŋu family, the exhibition is co-curated by Siena Mayutu Wurmarri Stubbs, granddaughter of Gaymala Yunupiŋu, alongside AGSA’s Curator of Collections, Gloria Strzelecki.
Melting Point: Wati Wai! – An ambitious project developed by Mimili Maku Arts and initiated by Yankunytjatjara artist and cultural leader Robert Fielding. The work brings together Mimili wati (men) through Country, fire, cars and new ways of making, as artists and community members collect, melt and cast salvaged aluminium car parts on Country.
Regional Tarnanthi – The award-winning regional program returns, presented in partnership with Country Arts SA. Curated by Tarnanthi Regional Curator Marika Davies, a major new exhibition will premiere in Thalpiri/Port Pirie, with further venues to be announced.
Further program details will be revealed in mid-2027.
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