The award honours how First Nations artists contribute to Australian culture
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has opened submissions to this year’s First Nations Art Award.
Now in its third year, the award honours how First Nations artists in remote, regional and urban areas across the country contribute to Australian culture, the firm said. KWM will be working hand in hand with Brisbane’s Griffith University Art Museum, led by director Angela Goddard.
“We recognise that part of our purpose is to ensure the prosperity of the communities in which we thrive. This award centres the voices, perspectives and experiences of First Nations artists so we can continue to learn from their lived experience,” explained Renae Lattey, KWM Australia CEP and main sponsor of the art award. “It also celebrates the extraordinary contribution made to Australian culture by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and acknowledges the richness, vibrance and importance of country and culture”.
Art forms eligible for submission include painting, photography, printmaking, works on bark or board, metal, acrylic glass and mixed media, digital media and sculpture. The winner of the King & Wood Mallesons First Nations Art Award will receive $25,000; the QLD Local Artist Award winner will net $5,000; and two People’s Choice awardees will take home $1,000 each.
On the judging panel are:
- Daniel Browning - First Nations journalist, writer, documentary maker, broadcaster and sound artist
- Emma Loban - writer, project manager and consultant
- Katina Davidson - curator of Indigenous Australian Art QAGOMA
- Warraba Weatherall - artist, researcher, curator, and cultural scholar
Curator, writer, artist and activist Djon Mundine OAM is the exhibition patron.
The selected finalists will have their work displayed at the King & Wood Mallesons First Nations Art Award Exhibition, which runs from 14 September to 14 October at the Griffith University Art Museum. The winners of each category will be announced on the showcase awards night on 14 September.
The first King & Wood Mallesons First Nations Art Award was launched by former KWM CEP Berkeley Cox alongside curator Sarah Cox.
KWM confirms role in gold maker’s first US notes offering
On the M&A side, a team from KWM assisted gold producer Northern Star Resources Limited with an offering of senior guaranteed notes in the US bond market that’s valued at US$600m – the company’s first US notes offering.
The notes are due in April 2033, with certain wholly owned subsidiaries serving as guarantors. The proceeds will go towards general corporate purposes such as capital expenditures.
Northern Star confirmed that the offering closed successfully last Wednesday.
The KWM team served as Australian legal adviser on the transaction, and was helmed by M&A partner Antonella Pacitti with support from senior associate Jacob Carmody and solicitor Tom Carmody. Debt capital markets partners Yuen-Yee Cho and Dan Flanagan guided the Australian debt aspects of the deal alongside solicitors Sachin Kinger and Brogan Garrod.
The tax, projects and dispute resolution teams also pitched in with specialist advice.
