Our collection of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art is the result of a longstanding relationship with the APY Art Centre Collective. "The Collective" is a group of Aboriginal art studios located in communities across the APY Lands (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara), a region in the vast Central Australian desert. These communities are small, but are home to a raft of acclaimed artists and revered cultural custodians.
Each piece in the hotel collection was created in a remote APY art studio especially for The Wall Street Hotel. Five top-tier artists from the region were invited, as part of the special commission, to create a series of painted works in their signature style to adorn our walls. The artists then worked with designers and master printmakers to recreate the paintings as works on paper. Every piece in this ground-breaking collection has distinct cultural ties to the next. And together, it is a fine example of the integrity, richness and beauty for which this internationally celebrated art movement is renowned.
The APY Art Centre Collective (the Collective) is a formidable group of the most celebrated and ambitious remote Aboriginal art studios in Australia, each exploring a diverse range of mediums to express and share their Tjukurpa (dreaming stories), which have been passed down from their ancestors.
The Collective art studio groups are Aboriginal-owned and governed organizations spread across the APY region in remote Central Australia. We work with a united vision and voice on social enterprise initiatives and collaborative artistic projects.
There are more than 500 artists working in studios across the APY region. These studios play a vital and powerful role in Aboriginal communities that are struggling with complex physical and social conditions marked by intergenerational trauma, remoteness, poverty, and ill-health. Through cultural activity and income generation, significant progress is made towards improving the economic, social and psychological health and well-being of local people.
FACTS ABOUT APY ART CENTRES:
- They are 100% Aboriginal owned and governed, with a strong emphasis on the creation of meaningful jobs and pathways.
- Centres are professional art studios where culture is celebrated, maintained, and carefully instructed to younger generations by Aboriginal elders.
- They serve as the primary source of non-government income in remote Aboriginal communities.
- The centres are home to some of the most renowned and collectable Indigenous artists, as well as a host of young and emerging artists.
- They are unique in their commitment to collaborate across the region on large-scale artistic projects and events.