Gaypalani Waṉambi has won the 2025 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) for her work Burwu, blossom. She will receive a AU$100,000 cash prize.
Six other prizes, each worth AU$15,000, were awarded across different categories: general painting, bark painting, work on paper, memorial 3D, multimedia and emerging artist.
Gaypalani Waṉambi is a Yolŋu artist and the daughter of the late painter, filmmaker and curator Mr W Wanambi. She assisted her father with his art and followed his guidance in creating works that repurpose industrial materials from the north-east Arnhem Land region, in alignment with the local Found movement. Her work explores themes such as epic song poetry relating to the journeys of Wuyal, the honey ancestor, and the life cycles of bees, honey and stringybark blossom. Burwu, blossom is a largescale work that represents one of her clan’s ancient songlines etched on the back of discarded steel road signs.
Founded in 1984, the Telstra NATSIAA is Australia’s first and longest running award that celebrates the work of First Nations artists.
Burwu, blossom is currently on view alongside the work of all the other 70 finalists of the award at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, through 26 January 2026.
