Penny Evans works with ceramics, paper, print and film to engage with the ancient symbols and iconography of her Gomeroi/Gamilaraay ancestors. She has been a finalist in the 2017 and 2016 Telstra NATSIA Awards . Her use of intricately carved lined patterns in ceramics represents the skin markings, estuaries, flood plains and carved trees of her homelands in northern NSW. Her work explores the devastating effect of water mismanagement and agricultural practices.

Mabel Juli is an internationally renowned painter, a strong Law and Culture woman and important ceremonial singer and dancer from Giga, in the East Kimberly region of Western Australia. She is a finalist in this year’s 35th annual NATSIA Awards in Darwin. Her works use ochre and natural pigments to depict creation stories of the moon and stars, and recently her work has explored human impacts on climate change. Most recognisable is her depiction of Garnkiny doo Wardel (Moon and Star), an important Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) story exploring forbidden love, kinship and the origins of our mortality. 

Aunty Pat is a Central Arrernte and Mudburra Elder, painter, lecturer and traditional healer from Undoolya in Alice Springs. She is a member of the Stolen Generation whose recent artistic practice documents her initiation back into her community. Her work depicts women, wild bush foods, ceremonies and the use of symbols. She currently leads walking tours in and around Alice Springs, sharing stories of each location.

Mervyn Rubuntja  is a Western Arrente man. While living at Hermannsburg as a child, Mervyn watched his uncles Maurice, Oscar and Keith Namatjira painting with watercolour like their father Albert Namatjira had. Mervyn’s father, the late Mr Wenten Rubuntja, was the first Aboriginal member of the Australia Council for the Arts, a senior law man and renowned painter who was an important role model. Mervyn’s work in Badu Gili depicts the seasonal changes  of the McDonnell Ranges and the  colour changes during the setting of the sunset. He paints in the Hermannsburg water colour technique using strong clear colour – the way he sees the landscape in unpolluted light. 

As ceremonial leader of the Madarrpa clan of North East Arnhem Land  and a member of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council,  Djamabawa  uses his art to communicate his wider socio-political aims, drawing on the strong foundations of his Yolngu culture to educate, inspire and seek justice for his people. Djambawa uses painting to depict sacred designs, embodying his right to speak as a part of the land, whether above ground or under the sea. Djambawa co-ordinated the 2004 Sea Rights claim in the Federal Court which resulted in the High Court’s determination that Yolngu did indeed own the land between high and low water mark (2008 Blue Mud Bay case). He continues to work with the Northern Land Council and was the winner of Best Bark in the 1996 Telstra Art Award.

Aiona is an emerging artist from Badu Island known for his intricate and striking print work, inspired by the designs of his family markings. His pieces depict the four winds of the Torres Strait Islands, the four hills of Moa Island, and the hunt for dugong and turtles, honouring the rites of passage of young warriors. His work in Badu Gili 2018 highlights the flight of the herons who seek refuge in the wetlands and rivers.