News edition for 10 September 2026. Added to Nungya on 22 October 2026 as part of our retrospective news archive. Reporting reflects information available by the edition date.

A painting carrying family memories and an enduring relationship with Country has received the 2026 Vincent Lingiari Art Award. Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney, of Artists of Ampilatwatja, won the $10,000 major prize for My grandmother’s country.

The result was announced on 10 September as Desert Mob opened in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. The Central Land Council’s award report explains that the landscape depicts Country about 325 kilometres northeast of the town, with connections extending across generations of Bonney’s family.

For many years, Bonney painted alongside her mother, Eileen Bonney, a founding artist of Artists of Ampilatwatja. The report places the winning work within that family history and the long effort to regain their land.

Judges Rebekah Raymond and Joel Liddle selected the major winner from a record 56 entries. This fourth presentation of the award is organised by Desart and the Central Land Council, with a theme recognising the 50th anniversary of the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

The exhibition at Araluen Arts Centre is scheduled to continue until 18 October. Beyond the prize, it offers audiences time to consider how painting can hold memory, responsibility and the continuing presence of family on Country.