October 24, 2026 — 5:00am

Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney’s painting stretches before me in great swathes of red and ochre – low ranges beneath a cloud-scattered sky, ghost gums, wildflowers and a winding creek bed. This is Titjambera, her grandmother’s Country.

“My mother has been fighting for this land for 40 years, one of the longest standing land claims in the Northern Territory,” reads Bonney’s description of her work. “We paint this Country to show our children, so they can keep painting the Country.”

Vincent Lingiari family representatives, Rosie Smiler and Trisha Smiler with Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney’s winning work. Sara Maiorino

I’m in Alice Springs (Mparntwe) for the opening night of the Desert Mob art festival where hundreds of works by Aboriginal artists from across Central Australia will be displayed.…