Tarnanthi, the Art Gallery of South Australia's annual exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, is launching a national tour titled 'Tarnanthi on Tour: Too Deadly' starting July. The touring exhibition features over 30 works from the past decade of the festival, many conceived for Tarnanthi and never seen outside Adelaide. It will visit six regional galleries across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia over the next two years, including Rockhampton Museum of Art, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Ngununggula, Caboolture Art Gallery, Geelong Gallery, and Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.
This tour matters because it marks a pivotal moment for Tarnanthi as it enters a new chapter following the departure of its long-serving Artistic Director Nici Cumpston, who has taken a role at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection in the US. The recruitment for a new artistic director is underway, leaving the festival's future direction open. The tour helps cement Tarnanthi's legacy while expanding its audience and impact, building on the festival's success in drawing 2.2 million visitors since 2015 and showcasing the profound outcomes of sustained support for First Nations artists.