Following the successful showcase exhibition in 2025, the Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair initiative will continue to build momentum with a presentation at the 2026 Melbourne Art Fair.
From 19-22 February, the 2026 presentation will feature designs by Tahnee Edwards of Gammin Threads and animation work by multi-disciplinary artist Jarra Karalinar Steel. The presentation will showcase some of Gammin Threads’ best-known graphic tees and accessories designs, including a limited collection that Jarra and Tahnee worked on in collaboration.
Both artists will be part of the Melbourne Art Fair’s In Conversation program – find out more about the two events and RSVP below.
This presentation is made possible through partnership between the Melbourne Art Fair and Creative Victoria’s Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair.
Meet the artists
Tahnee Edwards (she/her) is a proud Yorta Yorta & Taungurung woman, designer, community worker, and owner of Gammin Threads. Based in Naarm/Melbourne, her work blends contemporary streetwear with storytelling, language, and cheeky If You Know You Know (IYKYK) humour grounded in lived experiences and community. Tahnee centres Blak joy and representation in her work — especially the aunties, matriarchs, and everyday mob who shape culture. Her work has featured across art and fashion platforms including Australian Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Festival & Fashion Week, the National Indigenous Fashion Awards and Country to Couture; YIRRAMBOI Festival, Deadly Fringe, and the Metro Tunnel Creative Program (Town Hall Station).
Jarra Karalinar Steel (Boonwurrung, Wemba Wemba and Trawlwoolway) is a Melbourne based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores Blak Futurism, identity and future folklore through bold visual storytelling across public and digital spaces. A current Rupert Bunny Fellow, she recently undertook the Galang Artist Residency in Paris at the Cité internationale des arts, ran an artist workshop at Tate Modern and curated the RISING Melbourne Art Trams (2022–2024), positioning her practice at the intersection of contemporary Indigenous culture, public space and future-facing Indigenous narratives.
In conversation: Tahnee Edwards
Join ceramicist and host of radio 3CR’s B.I.T.E (Blak is the essence) program, Sofii Belling-Harding, as she speaks with founder and designer of Gammin Threads, Tahnee Edwards. Audiences will learn how and why Gammin Threads was established, as well as what inspires Tahnee’s iconic designs. Tahnee will share important insights into her process in collaborating with other First Peoples designers and artists, and her thoughts on the groundswell of Indigenous fashion.
When: 3:30pm - 4:00pm, 21 February 2026
Where: Melbourne Art Fair’s CONVERSATIONS Space ‘The Bubble’ at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
In Conversation: Jarra Karalinar Steel
Melbourne Art Foundation Board Director, Jack Wilkie-Jans, will speak with Jarra Karalinar Steel on her unique and distinctive multi-arts practice, as well as her Boonwurrung culture, Country and histories. Audiences will learn how these inspire Jarra’s sculptural work and aesthetic, and grounds her ethical approach to producing work with new and emerging technologies, as she creates animations and video games. Jarra will also share insights into her recent residency in Paris, France.
When: 3:30pm - 4:00pm, 22 February 2026
Where: Melbourne Art Fair’s CONVERSATIONS Space ‘The Bubble’ at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre