Christmas shoppers are being encouraged to think about investing in art as they consider their 2008 gift list in light of the global economic downturn.
The acting manager of Charles Darwin University’s Northern Editions gallery and workshop, Joanna Osborn said that this year’s current financial stresses should encourage Christmas shoppers to invest their dollars wisely.
Ms Osborn said that acquiring work by Indigenous artists offered one option for savvy shoppers.
Northern Editions’ upcoming Christmas sale and exhibition, “Past Impressions”, will include artwork by established and emerging Indigenous artists from the Tiwi Islands, Bidaydanga, Central Australia, Balgo and the Kimberley region.
Opening next Monday (10 November), Past Impressions will showcase more than 20 prints, and many more works in the gallery's display portfolios available for sale.
The exhibition also will include a number of works by non-Indigenous artists who have worked with Northern Editions, northern Australia’s longest established publisher of limited edition prints.
Prices will range from $70 to $2000 for major artworks, with discounts of up to 40 per cent applying to selected prints.
Ms Osborn said she believed that Christmas shoppers this year would be focused on gifts that were likely to grow in value over time.
The Christmas sale and exhibition will coincide with the first Northern Editions Open Day on Saturday, 15 November between 10am - 4pm.
The open day will celebrate 15 years of printmaking at Northern Editions and will include free printmaking workshops and tours of the facility.
Northern Editions has collaborated with Indigenous artists to produce limited edition prints since 1993.
Since then, hundreds of etchings, screen-prints, lithographs and linocuts have found homes in major art galleries, museums, corporate and private collections around the world.
The sale and exhibition will be open to the public Monday to Friday from 9am - 5pm and is located in Building Orange 9, at the University's Casuarina campus.
Northern Editions’ gallery also will be open to the public on Saturday, 15 November from 10am - 4pm.
The sale will end Friday, 12 December.
For further information, contact Northern Editions on 08 8946 6325 or northern.editions@cdu.edu.au.
Visit the exhibition online at www.northerneditions.com.au.