TARNANTHI ART FAIR & ARTSWORKER INTERN
October 18 - 21, 2024
Ku Arts are excited to continue our partnership with the Tarnanthi Festival, supporting independent South Australian First Nations artists in accessing opportunities typically reserved for Art Centres. In October 2024, Ku Arts assisted 38 artists in exhibiting their works through the Digital Tarnanthi Art Fair. Our support included managing artwork cataloguing, photographing the pieces and packaging sales. We provide these services free of charge, ensuring that 100% of the profits go directly to the artists.
Additionally, this year, Ku Arts hosted an intern, Melanie Koolmatrie, for four weeks to learn about arts administration and assist with the art fair process. Melanie has shared some of her experiences with us, interview below.
Melanie painting at the Ku Arts studio.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your creative practice?
My name is Melanie Koolmatrie, I am a multidisciplinary artist from Raukkan Aboriginal Community in SA. Currently living in Adelaide. The main art mediums I work in are painting, weaving, ceramics and jewellery. I have been making art for 5 years. I wasn’t good at it at the start but I’ve kept working at it, asking lots of questions, practising, and I’ve started to really build on my knowledge and skills.
Can you tell us a bit about your engagement with Ku Arts?
I discovered Ku Arts last year through social media. One of my friends shared the Darwin activate program with me and I applied but wasn’t successful at the time. And so I reapplied this year and was accepted. That experience was just so good for me, it was such an amazing opportunity to get to know the Ku staff and other artists and to find out about all of the support and programs they offer. In Darwin, we visited lots of art galleries, spoke to artists who were presenting work at the Darwin art fair and heard about their creative journey, how they became artists, and got lots of inspiration.
Ku Arts was thrilled to have you on our team, interning for 4-weeks supporting the 2024 Tarnanthi Digital Art Fair – can you tell us a bit about your work and the skills you learnt?
I learnt so many skills doing this internship. I learnt about how to handle artwork, how to photograph, measure and catalogue work, how to use the Tarnanthi database. I also learnt about packaging and sending work off. Professional touches like making sure there’s certificates of authenticity, artist info, contact addresses, all the small things that matter in managing artwork. It was so good because I learnt both sides of being an artist – the making part but then also the marketing and admin and sales part. It was such a good experience, I took a lot away from it.
Packing some of the 163 orders!
You also presented your artwork for the first time during the art fair; what was this process like for you? Is there anything you learnt in the process?
I think just having support from Ku staff really boosted my confidence to enter because otherwise I don’t think I would have done that. I wouldn’t have known how to. Coming into the studio I was able to talk about my work, bounce ideas, get feedback and encouragement and make a plan. Then seeing the results, selling 5 artworks, has really pushed me to continue next year. I feel way more confident and have more knowledge and skills. Leaning about the art industry, the way work is created, marketed, and sold, has given me a lot more understanding with how to think about and continue with my work.
What would you recommend to artists interested in presenting works during an art fair?
Just have a go, and if you need support reach out to Ku because they can really point you in the right direction and give you encouragement and help. It’s such a good space to get help and create work. There’s no need to feel shame about it!
88% of participants said participating in the art fair created a sense of pride through sales or exhibiting their work
Through the Ku Arts Booth, we supported
$33425 in sales
163 orders
30+ independent artists
8 different mediums
Ku Arts acknowledges the support of our funding partners whose commitment enables our continued delivery of services and programs to benefit Aboriginal artists in South Australia.
The 2024 Tarnanthi Art Fair and Artsworker Intern Program has been made possible through the support of our funding partner, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Tarnanthi Festival.