Five reasons art lovers must visit the Red Centre in 2022

By Mark Daffey

Parrtjima

Parrtjima is a free, 10-night light festival where old meets new. The "old" is the MacDonnell Ranges, the ancient mountains acting as a natural canvas for the "new" technologies of light installations. Think Vivid or White Nights, but in a desert setting. Following the theme of "Sky Country", this year’s Parrtjima will be lighting up the Alice Springs Desert Park from 8-17 April.

Parrtjima.

Field of Light

Fifty thousand solar-powered light spheres erupting from the desert sands beneath the shadows of Australia’s most iconic monolith, Uluru? Sounds otherworldly, and the astronomical success of Bruce Munro’s Field of Light art installation has seen its lifetime extended indefinitely. Our tip is to visit for sunrise to escape the crowds.

Field of Light glowing in the desert. Tourism NT/Matt Glastonbury.

Australian Ceramics Triennale

A jam-packed program full of discussions, presentations, workshops and demonstrations. This year’s Australian Ceramics Triennale – taking place from 19-23 July at the Araluen Cultural Precinct (Alice Spring’s art hub) – brings together artists, writers, curators, educators, collectors, thinkers and makers from around the country around the daily themes of Archetype, Alchemy and Anarchy.

Couple enjoying an art exhibition at Araluen Art Centre. Tourism NT/Shaana McNaught.

Gallery of Central Australia

More than 80 artworks by established and emerging artists are on display inside the newly opened Gallery of Central Australia (GoCA) in Ayers Rock Resort. GoCA provides a unique opportunity to learn about authentic Indigenous art while you watch resident artists at work. Admission is free between the hours of 9am and 5pm. 

Gallery of Central Australia (GoCA). Tourism Australia. 

Alice Springs Galleries

Alice Springs is where you’ll find some of the largest collections of Aboriginal art in Australia. The Araluen Art Collection includes a significant number of artworks by celebrated water-colourist, Albert Namatjira. Tjanpi Desert Weavers exhibits fibre art by more than 400 Aboriginal women from 26 remote communities. See landscape watercolour paintings at Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) Art Centre and Aboriginal artworks from the Utopia region at Mbantua Art Gallery.

Yubu Napa Art Gallery.  Tourism NT/Shaana McNaught.