Maari Ma Indigenous Art Awards

The Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Health Corporation, and West Darling Arts are proud to support the 2025 Maari Ma Indigenous Art Awards. This important prize provides a platform to showcase and celebrate the creativity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists residing in the Maari Ma / West Darling Arts region.

The prize is non-acquisitive.

Key Dates

Call for entries: Monday, 1 September 2025
Entries close: Sunday, 2 November 2025
Artwork delivery: By Sunday, 2 November 2025, between 10 am and 4 pm, to the Broken Hill City Art Gallery
Opening night: Friday, 7 November 2025
Exhibition dates: 7 November 2025 – 8 February 2026

Conditions of Entry

Maximum of 2 entries per artist
Size restriction: 1500 mm x 1500 mm
Works must have been created within the last 12 months
Artists must reside within the Maari Ma region

Awards & Prizes

Open / Overall Winner – $5,000
2D Winner – $2,500
Sculptural Winner – $2,500
Emerging Winner – $2,000
Nhuungku Winner – $2,000
People’s Choice – $2,000
School Combined Entry – Art Prize Pack valued at $2,000
Young Artist (16–21) – Art Prize Pack valued at $1,000
Young Artist (Under 15) – Art Prize Pack valued at $500 (sponsored by West Darling Arts)

2025 Judge

Rebecca Ray
Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections and Exhibitions, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

“I am a mainland Torres Strait Islander woman and an experienced First Nations curator, writer and researcher with a dedicated focus on decolonisation methodologies and practice within institutions. My work is artist and community centred and based on collaboration and two-way relationship building fostered on transparency, authenticity and cultural autonomy. I hold a Bachelor of Arts and am sociologically trained with an interest in identity politics, intersectionality and race theory.”