Bindi Enterprises provides supported employment and training opportunities for people with disability. It comprises the Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artist Studio, a woodwork and metalwork workshop, a digital arts program and a contracts department that fulfils commercial agreements for tasks such as packaging, delivering, sorting and labelling.
Learn more at https://bindienterprises.org.au/ and https://www.facebook.com/BindiMwerreAnthurreArtists/.
Art for the Disability Royal Commission
The walls of the Disability Royal Commission’s Public Hearing in Alice Springs in July were adorned with paintings by artists from Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists. This opportunity came at the request of the Royal Commission after members of the Commission’s First Nations Working Group saw Bindi artworks on a previous visit to Alice Springs.
Work by every Bindi artist was also shown in a slideshow during hearing breaks. A work by Bindi artist Adrian Jangala Robertson hung directly behind the Commissioner. Adrian is a respected Walpiri painter who has painted with Bindi for 20 years.
Prizes
Adrian extended his series of successful art prizes and recognition throughout 2022. He won the prestigious Alice Prize, which is an acquisitive contemporary art prize, welcoming entries from around Australia, in any medium or theme. Works by fellow Bindi Mwerre Anthurre artists Charles Jangala Inkamala and Billy Kenda were among the finalists. Stuart Keech from Bindi Enterprises’ Contracts team was also a finalist.
Adrian Robertson and Billy Tjampitjinpa Kenda’s artworks also hung in Sydney’s popular Sulman and Wynne prizes awarded by the Art Gallery of NSW. Adrian was a finalist for the Sulman Prize, which is awarded for the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project by an Australian artist. Billy was a finalist for the Wynne Prize, for ‘the best landscape painting of Australian scenery.’
Adrian was also a finalist for the Hadley’s Art Prize in Tasmania. This acquisitive landscape award is one of Australia's highest-value art prizes.
Charles Jangala Inkamala was selected as a finalist for the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. They are the longest running and most prestigious Indigenous art awards in Australia, where Bindi artists have had repeated successes.
Bindi Enterprises also received a series of awards. Its Digital Art Program won the 2021 Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce Best Business Collaboration Award. Riccardo Capone, who works in the Bindi Contracts Department, was a finalist in the 2021 Alice Springs Mayoral Awards in recognition of his contribution to the Alice Springs community.
Philanthropic support
Bindi’s Digital Art Program is positioned for further growth with three years of philanthropic funding announced by Kirkland Lake Gold.
The Pam Usher private foundation provided philanthropic support for the Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, funding artist skills development workshops in 2021 and contributing to the annual Bindi Magic exhibition opening event in 2022.