# Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute

The Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, usually referred to as Tandanya, is an art museum located on Grenfell Street in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in promoting Indigenous Australian art, including visual art, music and storytelling. It is the oldest Aboriginal-owned and -run cultural centre in Australia. It has been closed for building repairs since May 2023 and is due to reopen sometime in 2025.

## Naming

The institute derives its name from Tarndanya, the Kaurna Aboriginal people's name for the Adelaide city centre and parklands area, meaning "place of the red kangaroo".

## History

Tandanya is the oldest Aboriginal-owned and -run cultural centre in Australia, opened in 1989. The first exhibition featured artworks on silk created by women from Utopia in the Northern Territory, entitled Utopia — A Picture Story.
Since then it has hosted a variety of exhibitions and events, including Adelaide Fringe performances and the national launch of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament's Yes campaign in February 2023.

### Building

It is housed in the old Grenfell Street Power Station (later a TAFE college) at the eastern end of Grenfell Street in the Adelaide city centre, also the office headquarters of the South Australian Electric Light and Motive Power Company. The original building dates from 1901, but it was extensively modified and rebuilt in 1912–13, including the Palladian-style facade. The building was heritage-listed on the SA Heritage Register in November 1984. There is an "Historic Engineering Plaque" on a ground level plinth just east of the north-east corner of the building, which was dedicated by the Institution of Engineers, Australia, the Electricity Trust of South Australia and the Adelaide City Council on 6 April 1995.

## Governance, funding, and functions

Management of the building and land on which Tandanya is located come under the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966, while its operations as an organisation fall within the state Minister for Arts portfolio area. The building is very old, and large parts of the building and sometimes the whole building have been closed to the public in recent years (2020s) owing to maintenance needs.
The core activities of Tandanya, as listed in its 2015-6 Annual Report, were: visual arts (exhibitions program); performing arts (events, theatre and performances); community arts (public art); cultural performances and information; school education activities; cultural and artistic tours; Indigenous infused café; Gallery Shop retailing Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Artworks. The centre was then governed by a 10-member board of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent and residing in South Australia. A chief executive officer is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The 2021/2022 annual report showed a loss of $284,000, due to ageing infrastructure and therefore not being able to host Adelaide Fringe events, COVID-19 restrictions, gaps in the workforce, and other reasons.
Funding of Tandanya was formerly through the federal government arts funding body Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia) on a four-yearly cycle, including in 2016. In May 2020, two months after closure owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Australia, the organisation was informed that it would no longer receive funding through the Australia Council. Other funding has come in through use of the building as a venue for Adelaide Fringe performances, various grants and other funding avenues, and its two streams of paid membership (Friends of Tandanya, non-Indigenous people; and paid membership for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of Tandanya, which also gives them a voice in the running of Tandanya, and the ability to nominate to become a board member).

### People

Dennis Stokes was CEO from mid-2018 until June 2021. He was succeeded by Kirstie Parker on an interim basis until late January 2022, when Nancia Guivarra took on the role as acting CEO. Phillip Saunders then took over as interim CEO.
As of September 2024, Phillip Saunders and Lee-Ann Tjunypa Buckskin are co-CEOs, while Buckskin is artistic director. Saunders had been serving as interim CEO since at least February 2023, while Buckskin was appointed in April 2024. The board is headed by interim chair Aaron Ken, and the eight board members include Rhoda Roberts and Daniel Riley of Australian Dance Theatre.

## Building repairs

The building has been subject to many closures since 2020, not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also owing to numerous maintenance problems. The state government has invested in repairs and renewal of air-conditioning units, sprinkler heads, internal walls, electrical work, painting, and carpets. In 2023 there were improvements to fire safety components and emergency and exit lighting. It was due to re-open in January 2025, after "temporary" closure in April 2023. The Malinauskas government contributed A$780,000 towards the repair and upgrade work.
Discussions have taken place over several years about the new Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC; aka Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Cultures) as part of the Lot Fourteen precinct on North Terrace; however, a decision on Tarrkarri was still pending in 2024 as the government sought major philanthropic funding for the new site. This was also leading to uncertainty with regard to the future of Tandanya.

## 21st-century activities

The centre runs programs and performances as part of NAIDOC Week.
Since 2015 the centre has hosted the annual Art Fair, part of the Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art each year. It has also been the venue of many Adelaide Fringe performances.

### 2020

In 2020, with its 30th-anniversary celebrations interrupted by being forced to close for over six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, Tandanya re-opened in October with an exhibition called Atnwengerrp — Our Apmere, Our Place, which included the work of five of the original women whose work was shown in the first ever exhibition at the gallery. During its closure, the space was used to create Still Stylin' 2020 a seven-minute musical video montage featuring reworked songs by Christine Anu. Directed by Larrakia rapper Jimblah, it featured First Nations dancers, rappers, and artists, performing in Tandanya and on country.
On 13 November 2020, as part of NAIDOC Week celebrations, the centre hosted a new music festival called TREATY, featuring established and emerging First Nations musicians from South Australia. Performers included J-Milla, Sonz of Serpent, Dem Mob, RKM (Rulla Kelly-Mansell), Tilly Tjala Thomas, MRLN (Marlon Motlop) and Katie Aspel, with Natasha Wanganeen sharing the presenting with J-Milla.
The building closed temporarily for repairs in April 2023 and is due to reopen in.