Creative Victoria is proud to introduce the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair – a major new biennial event for Victoria to take place from 2025.
About the initiative
Creative Victoria is proud to introduce the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair – a major new biennial event for Victoria. The fair will debut in 2025 at Melbourne Art Fair (20 to 23 February) with a showcase exhibition and will present a full-scale event in 2027.
An initiative of the Creative State 2025 strategy and driven by the First Peoples Directions Circle, the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair aims to promote and build the market for Victoria’s First People creatives across Australia and overseas.
The fair will celebrate and build the market for the extraordinary work of First Peoples artists and designers from Victoria. It will also enable networking, support artists and designers to expand their business practices, platform new ideas and bold new works, and strengthen the First Peoples creative industries here in Victoria.
The event will shine a light on the diverse and rich creative practices and culture of First Peoples throughout Victoria, while engaging the broader Victorian community and delivering economic benefits to First Peoples creatives.
Creative Victoria would like to thank members of the First Peoples Directions Circle for bringing their vision and determination to this game-changing initiative, highlighting the need for the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair and the opportunities it will create.
Showcase exhibition 2025
In 2025, the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair will present a showcase exhibition at the Melbourne Art Fair from 20 to 23 February at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The showcase exhibition will feature the work of 20 unrepresented Victorian First Peoples artists, to be announced in the coming months, along with representation from First Peoples arts organisations: Kaiela Arts, Baluk Arts, Perridak Arts and The Torch. In addition to being an incredible showcase, all works will be available for sale.
The inaugural, full-scale event will officially launch in 2027 and will again be timed to coincide with the Melbourne Art Fair.
Meet the team
To bring the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair to life, Creative Victoria has appointed Janina Harding as Senior Project Manager, Stacie Piper as Creative Hub Manager, and Jessica Clark as Curatorial Manager.
In addition to planning the showcase exhibition and 2027 event, the team will spend their time building the capacity of artists and designers by ensuring they have culturally safe spaces to create, workshop ideas, upskill and produce museum standard work.
First Peoples creative hubs
In the lead up to the 2025 showcase exhibition, and beyond, eight First Peoples organisations have shared in more than $654,000 via the Creative Spaces and Places program. This funding is to create new and improved spaces that will enable First Peoples creatives to develop work and develop their skills.
Mob in Fashion is set to transform their Brunswick fashion studio with an interior fit out, while Djirra in the West will purchase much needed equipment and convert a shed into a functional art making hub for Aboriginal women.
Murran Hub in Geelong will upgrade infrastructure and equipment and Carlton based The Torch will fit out their hub and gallery to include a creative studio, build fit-for-purpose large artwork storage facilities and make improvements to their digital infrastructure.
The Motherless Collective in Collingwood, Baluk Arts in Mount Eliza, In Print Projects in Tyrendarra and Shepparton’s Kaiela Arts will purchase new equipment, upgrade their spaces and improve their digital resources.
This page will continue to be updated with the latest developments on the fair. Subscribe to Creative Victoria’s eNews or follow us on social media to receive updates directly.