Entries open: late 2027, to be announced

Full entry terms and conditions will be available in late 2027. 

Entries are welcome from artists throughout the Northern Territory at all stages of their careers and across all mediums. 

Residency requirement: Participants must reside in the Northern Territory at the time of submission, and be a Northern Territory Resident for more than 12 months, prior to application closing date. 

Age: Artists under 18 may enter, but their works will be judged alongside adult submissions. A parent or guardian is required to complete the application form for anyone under 18 years of age. 

Definition of artist: The term "artist" may refer to an individual, collaboration, or group. The submitted entry must be created solely by the named artist or artists. 

Originality: Entries must be original artworks created by the entrant(s). 

Timeframe: Artworks must have been completed within two years of the application closing date, and must not have been exhibited before.

Submission limit: Artists may submit one entry.

Size restrictions:  Artworks are subject to discretionary limits. Size of 2 meters in any direction and 80 kilograms.

Display readiness: All artworks must be ready for display if selected for the exhibition (e.g., paper artworks must be framed or mat-boarded with appropriate hanging elements). Artworks failing this requirement will not be included in the exhibition.

Electrical equipment submitted as part of artwork must include a valid test and tag. 

Submission deadline: No late entries will be accepted.

Delivery: Artworks selected for the exhibition must be delivered Darwin Visual Arts during designated hours (to be confirmed).

Artists are responsible for packaging, freight, and insurance costs of their artworks to and from Darwin Visual Arts. 

All delivered artworks will be held for the duration of the exhibition and may not be available to collect until after the exhibition deinstallation. 

Shortlisted artworks: Artworks will be selected according to digital submissions by a panel. 

Exhibition: The Northern Territory Art Award reserves the right to consider, but not necessarily exhibit all submitted artworks. Only shortlisted artworks will feature in the exhibition. 

Exhibiting artists must be a Darwin Visual Arts artistic member. 

Judging: A judging panel of art sector professionals will evaluate and decide on the winning artworks, after the shortlisted artworks have been delivered and installed.

Payment of winners: Payment of prize monies will be coordinated by DVA. Where an award is conferred on an artwork with collaborating artists, the award value will be split evenly between those artists unless an agreement between artists exists.

Insurance: Artists are responsible for their own transit security for delivery. Once delivered, artworks are covered under insurance until the artwork pickup time is lapsed.Artists acknowledge and agree that Darwin Visual Arts does not provide storage for any artworks submitted and shall bear no responsibility for their safekeeping following artwork pickup dates.

Sales requirement: Artworks are required to be for sale. It is the responsibility of the artist to indicate the price of the artwork in the entry form, inclusive of GST and commission. The Northern Territory Art Awards will take 25% commission of the sale price. 

Unsold artworks that are not collected within two weeks from the deinstallation of the exhibition will be deemed to be the property of the Northern Territory Art Award and may be dealt with at the discretion of the Northern Territory Art Award, including disposal.

Sold artworks: All sold artworks must be collected by the buyer or their agent from Darwin Visual Arts, 1/8 McMinn Street, Darwin City, NT, 0800. Buyers will be informed where to collect their artwork.

Where artworks cannot be collected in person, the buyer must communicate with the Northern Territory Art Award to organise artwork postage. The freight will be at the cost of the buyer.

Copyright, reproduction and permissions: The artist warrants that the artwork does not infringe any copyright, moral rights, intellectual property rights or other rights of any third party. The artist remains the copyright owner of the artwork and will be acknowledged as the creator of the artwork at all times. 

Code of conduct: Artists are expected to comply and Darwin Visual Arts Code and Charles Darwin University of Conduct. Any negative behaviour may result in an application being denied and payment not refunded. 

If you’d like to support the next Northern Territory Art Award and help us continue providing opportunities for artists across the Territory, we encourage you to make a tax deductible donation. 

For donations over $500, please get in touch – we’d love to explore how we can partner with you to support your brand or cause through this Award.

Major award sponsorship

Limited opportunities exist for major sponsorship and naming rights to an award. 

Please reach out to generalmanagerdvaa@gmail.com or  gallerymanagerdvaa@gmail.com to express your interest in sponsoring an award in 2028. 

We thank you for your support of Northern Territory artists.