Melbourne Art Fair's purpose-built showcase of Victorian Indigenous works is a completely new opportunity for exposure to large audiences, its co-curators say.
The first Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair (VFPADF) showcase featured 20 independent artists, and 37 overall with inclusion of art centres, from across the state for the first time in 2025.
More broadly, the fair exhibited Indigenous artists from further pockets of the continent at unprecedented level in its 18th edition.
Co-curator and proud Palawa woman Dr Jessica Clark told National Indigenous Times VFPADF had been a "long time coming" and a "big family reunion", with artists and community members coming together on the opening day.
VFPADF is delivered via the state government's Creative Victoria program.
Naarm-born and based, Meriam Mir Torres Strait woman and co-curator Janina Harding said: "I was talking about this probably 20 years ago, when I went and saw my very first Melbourne Art Fair."
Ms Harding was artistic director of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair from 2015-2022.
"There's no difference. Culture is art. Arts is culture," she told National Indigenous Times, having drawn from her cultural heritage through her career, and now presenting that opportunity for Victorian First Nations artists on a new level.
"(Showcased artists) have all got blood in the ground. They're all got ancestral connections to Country in Victoria. And so the whole show is based on culture," Ms Harding said.
"It's very exciting for the artists, just to be part of this…to have a look at what other people are doing in the arts and to grow their practice.
"There's 20 independent artists as part of this exhibition, and they've never had that kind of exposure before to the wider community. So it's very exciting, because many of them come from regional (settings)."
Varying medium and disciplines, from painted canvas to sculpture and video, feature within.
Boon Wurrung and Barkindji multi-disciplinary artist Mitch Mahoney's Gurnbak (Goodoo, Mulloway, Long tail) received the inaugural VFPADF Commission.
The depiction of three fish species (Cod, Mulloway, Longtail Tuna) and their significance to Country and different waterways (freshwater, estuaries and saltwater) hang solely in a separated dedicated space at the fair.
Dr Clark said the showcase presented an "incredible opportunity" for the independent artists unrepresented in the commercial sector.
She added interest and sales were strong through the opening days.
VFPADF is set to be a biennial inclusion at the Melbourne Art Fair.
In 2027, it's hoped to be twice as big as this time around, "we want to double the footprint," Ms Harding said, who feels it's a "no brainer" to remain attached to a major event on Australia's art calendar and the exposure that provides.
"You've got the audience in the palm of your hand, and they're captivated by (First Nations) Victorian arts," she said.
"When we double the footprint, we'll probably double the amount of artists, hopefully. And that will be our job in the next few years - to do a survey of the state and call out to who wants to be part of the next Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair."
