Desert Mob, one of Australia’s major Indigenous arts events, has recorded the highest sales in its 27-year history with more than $420,000 in exhibition sales achieved by the end of September.

An estimated $500,000 in additional sales at the exhibitions popular MarketPlace over the opening weekend has Desert Mob 2017 tipped to reach a final result of close to $1 million in total sales.

The exhibition featured 236 Aboriginal artists from 30 remote art centres demonstrating the vitality of contemporary Aboriginal art from the Central Australian region.

Araluen Cultural Precinct Director Dr Mark Crees said that more than 6,000 people flocked to the cultural precinct in Alice Springs for the opening weekend, which included the Desert Mob Exhibition, the Desart-run all-day artist Symposium, and the opening of Desert Mob MarketPlace art fair.

Dr Crees says an upward trend in sales in recent years has seen artists become more confident and ambitious in the scale of their art.

 

The Desert Mob exhibition runs until October 22 at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs.

Image supplied: Papunya Tjupi artist Tilau Nangala being congratulated by Araluen Cultural Precinct Director Dr Mark Crees on her artwork that was acquired by Artbank at the Desert Mob 2017 opening. Photo by Lisa Hatz Photography