The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory announced the 2025 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) winners late on Friday.

Gaypalani Wanambi from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, is the prestigious $100,000 Telstra Art Award winner for 2025 with her monumental etched metal work, Burwu, blossom.

Ms Wanambi is the eldest daughter of renowned artist Wukun Waṉambi (1962–2022), whom she assisted as she was growing up.

Their family home doubled as an art studio from her earliest years. The verandahs or the lounge room would invariably be the scene of art production, with a large pole or bark being worked on by her parents and siblings.

Her father's renditions of thousands of tiny fish demanded ultimate patience and precision. She carried much of the workload of assisting him, including grinding the ochre pigments.

Before her father's sudden death in 2022, Ms Wanambi had begun to produce work in her own right and under her name with his blessing. By this time, her father had broadened his practice to include innovative digital work through the Mulka Project and was a member of the Found group of artists who engraved recycled road signs.

After her father's passing, cultural protocol required her to avoid using his designs. Instead, Ms Wanambi began to create artwork from the epic song poetry relating to the journeys of Wuyal, the Ancestral honey hunter.

She was a 2023 Telstra NATSIAA finalist and in 2024 won the Ravenswood Women's Art Prize. Her work is held in the collections of MAGNT, Parliament House (Canberra), Powerhouse (Sydney) and numerous private collections.

Ms Wanambi's award-winning artwork, Burwu, blossom is about Wuyal, the Ancestral honey hunter, an important Ancestor of the Marrakulu clan.

Wuyal was the first man to look for a homeland for the Marrakulu people. He began a journey from Ŋilipitji through Gurka'wuy, travelling via Yuḏuyuḏu to Cape Shield, up to Trial Bay and along the Goyder River until he came to Nhulun, or Mount Saunders.

He felled the Ancestral Waṉambi tree, causing a river of honey and thus founded the Marrakulu clan homeland at Gurka'wuy. The Marrakulu dance as bees in their ceremony, elbows extended, hands clutching stringybark leaves, which vibrate as wings.

The judging panel, Stephen Gilchrist, Gail Mabo and Brian Martin, described Burwu as "an exceptional work that visually and materially explores different relationships to and understandings of Country".

"Presenting two worlds with two sides, the epic Ancestral journeys of Wuyal are delicately engraved onto the silvery surfaces of discarded road signs. Each time the viewer moves, the work responds accordingly, revealing and concealing the undulations and intangible lifeforces of Country," they said.

"Each jewel-like panel shimmers with exquisitely rendered designs that are deeply anchored to Yolŋu philosophies. Despite its scale and its composite parts, there is a visual cohesion to the work that has been ambitiously, intentionally and expertly assembled."

Adam Worrall, Director, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, said: "We are delighted to celebrate Gaypalani Waṉambi as the recipient of the 2025 Telstra Art Award."

"Gaypalani's work about Wuyal, the Ancestral honey hunter is a testament to her exceptional talent and deep connection to the stories of the Marrakulu clan homeland at Gurka'wuy," he said.

"I would like to extend my congratulations to the other category winners and to all 71 finalists who entered their works and shared their stories. In 2025, we proudly highlight the significant participation of female artists, with 42 of this year's artworks created by women.

"The artworks shared through Telstra NATSIAA provide inspiration that captivates audiences both near and afar and showcases the tremendous diversity and depth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic and cultural expression found across Australia."

The other winners, who received $15,000 prizes, were:

Telstra General Painting Award - Iluwanti Ken, a Pitjantjatjara speaking woman who lives Amata community, for his work Walawuru Tjurkpa (Eagle story);

Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award (sponsored by Telstra) - Owen Yalandja, a Kuninjku speaker from Maningrida, for Ngalkodjek Yawkyawk;

Telstra Bark Painting Award - Lucy Yarawanga, Gurr-goni language, also from Maningrida, for Bawáliba & Ngalyod;

Telstra Work on Paper Award - Naomi Hobson, Southern Kaantju and Umpila languages, from Coen, Cape York, for: Present & Beyond;

Telstra Multimedia Award - Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis, Pitta Pitta language, who lives in Naarm (Melbourne), for Pitta Pitta (Extracted) and Pitta Pitta (Google's Gaze); and

Telstra Emerging Artist Award - Sonia Gurrpulan Guyula, a Djambarrpuyngu speaker from Dhondji Homeland, NT, for Mat.

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NATSIAA is Australia's longest-running and most prestigious art award of its kind, presented on Larrakia Country (Darwin) by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) and Principal Partner, Telstra.

Now in its 42nd year, the 2025 Telstra NATSIAA features Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across the nation, sharing incredible works reflecting the strength of cultures, responses to current affairs and unerring connections to Country.

This year, 71 finalists from across Australia have been selected from 216 entries. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards were established by MAGNT in 1984 to recognise and promote appreciation and understanding of the quality and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art throughout Australia.

The Awards have been a career changer for many of the finalists and winners throughout its 42 years.