Vincent Namatjira wins this year’s Archibald Prize, first Aboriginal artist in 99 years

In a timely re-addressing of history, an Aboriginal artist has won the 2020 Archibald prize, with Filipino-Australian Marikit Santiago taking out the Sulman, and Aboriginal artist Hubert Pareroultja, the Wynne.

The media mosh-pit for the Archibald Prize was understandably smaller this year, void of the rampant frenzy of cameras clicking, with strict social distancing measures in place and restricted numbers making for a more sober tone to the usual manic mayhem.

The upside is that a livestreamed announcement of the winners of the 2020 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize joined a string of firsts.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina