Araluen Arts Centre
Araluen Arts Centre is the focal point of Alice Springs’ performing and visual arts scene, incorporating four galleries and a 487-seat theatre.
The annual theatre program includes performances by national touring companies and many high quality local productions. The theatre is also available for the presentation of corporate functions and conferences, in association with the function room and the galleries where suitable.
The galleries feature a program of exhibitions with a focus on Aboriginal art from Central Australia, and contemporary art by local and Australian artists.
The Albert Namatjira Gallery displays a rotating selection of paintings by this famous Aboriginal artist, his descendants and contemporaries. The gallery also features early works from Papunya and the “Hermannsburg School”.
Araluen Arts Centre was designed and built around the 300 year old Corkwood Tree in the Sculpture Garden. This tree, another at the front of the building and Big Sister Hill are also considered sacred by the Arrernte people.
Araluen’s Arthouse Cinema Program brings both national and international arthouse films and film festivals to the people of Alice Springs.
Many of the films screened during the year are associated with Oscar Award winning actors and directors, while many will have won various international film festival awards. Some of the films also go on to achieve a cult following amongst arthouse cinema goers.
August 2019
Top Dog Film Festival 2019
Presented by Adventure Reels Celebrate the canine connection through this carefully curated collection of heartwarming stories about dogs and their people. After the sellout success of the Top Dog Film Festival in 2018, the cunningly canine filled program of heartwarming and inspiring dog films is back with even more stops on the 2019 tour. Meet dogs from all walks of life on the big screen: from the husky dogs of Alaska to the working dogs of Australia, the pull on your heartstring…
Find out more »Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour 2019
Presented by Adventure Reels Born out of a desire to showcase the strong, inspirational, adventurous women of the outdoor world, the Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour presents a carefully curated selection of short films that will entertain, enthral and enlighten. Showcasing 3 hours of the most inspirational and entertaining films celebrating adventurous women from independent filmmakers around the globe. Featuring a unique selection of films of varying lengths and styles, covering topics relevant to women in the outdoors the Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour will connect…
Find out more »The Sapphires
Presented by HIT Productions and Araluen Arts Centre “Energetic, passionate, heart wrenching, uplifting, hilarious and engaging.” - Australian Stage The Sapphires is a multiple award-winning musical play, and film that starred Jessica Mauboy, that is coming to the Araluen stage for one night only. Four young Aboriginal women from regional Australia, who like singing country music, suddenly get the chance to change their tune, and their lives. Wearing sequins, armed only with microphones they find themselves trying to spread joy in the hell that is…
Find out more »September 2019
Desert Mob 2019
Presented by the Araluen Arts Centre and Desart Presented in partnership with Desart, Desert Mob is an event of national significance, representing the most comprehensive survey of contemporary Aboriginal art by artists from across the desert regions and communities of Central Australia. After record-breaking audience attendances and artwork sales in 2018, this 29-year–strong event remains as vital and vibrant as ever. In 2019, the Desert Mob Exhibition, Symposium and MarketPlace continues to document and celebrate the dynamic shifts of one of the world’s most important art movements, with artists from Desart member art centres…
Find out more »Much Ado About Nothing
Presented by Bell Shakespeare and Araluen Arts Centre Claudio and Hero are deeply in love. Beatrice and Benedick would rather swap sassy insults than sweet nothings. Much Ado About Nothing is a saucy and razor-sharp battle of wits between the bickering Beatrice and Benedick, who wield words as weapons, their banter betraying their love for each other. Claudio however is quickly consumed by envy and his idyllic world threatens to come tumbling down as he humiliates Hero. Beatrice and Benedick must join forces to defend true…
Find out more »October 2019
Practically Perfect
Presented by Araluen Arts Centre For generations she has graced the stage and screen, and is fondly remembered for being Maria in The Sound of Music and of course, the wonderful nanny in Mary Poppins. Now in one glorious stage production, Practically Perfect celebrates the life and music of the legendary Dame Julie Andrews. Featuring some of her best known songs from shows such as Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Victor Victoria and more, interwoven with stories of her life on and off the…
Find out more »Radical Reels 2019
Presented by Adventure Reels A collection of short action-packed films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The Radical Reels Tour shows an entirely different set of films to those screened at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in May. Designed to take you into the wilds and out of your comfort zone, the films feature daring footage or some of the most accomplished climbers, paddlers,…
Find out more »Isaiah Firebrace in Concert
Presented by Araluen Arts Centre Hot on the heels of his return from the Ukraine, Isaiah Firebrace, Australia’s top ten ranked 2017 Eurovision Song Contest finalist, will be touring Australia with his 4-piece band in his new 2 hour concert spectacular. Hailing from just outside Melbourne, along the banks of the Murray River, Isaiah first stepped into the spotlight in 2016 when he was crowned winner of the eighth season of The X Factor Australia. Since then he’s grabbed global attention for his #1 single It’s Gotta…
Find out more »November 2019
Franca Barraclough: The Visitors
Presented by Araluen Arts Centre Franca Barraclough’s The Visitors is a visual survey of people, paths and stories woven through the sociological landscape of contemporary Central Australian culture, a distillation of poignant local imagery harnessed to give an artistic account of the impacts and influences on desert life. The making of these large–scale photographs involves Barraclough engaging, choreographing and collaborating with a diverse range of local community members in unique, inimitable and immersive experiences. Reproduced with all the gloss of tourism advertising, each image is alluring but also documents the particular…
Find out more »Greenbush Art Group: Shake, Rattle and Roll
Greenbush Art Group: Shake, Rattle and Roll A History of Central Australian Transport Presented by Araluen Arts Centre Shake, Rattle and Roll: A History of Central Australian Transport by the Greenbush Art Group at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, pays tribute to and interprets the history of transport in Central Australia. Early transport created a paradigm shift in desert regions, enabling the expansion of settler colonialism, ‘opening up’ the continent’s interior, creating cultural complexity and irrevocably changing the way people live, travel and engage…
Find out more »Smokie Live in Concert
Presented by NOW Music Celebrating over forty years of recording and touring, Smokie maintains their place among the time-honoured, rock n’ roll elite - something they take in their stride, but never for granted. Today, the band find themselves playing more territories than ever before, with Australia becoming a regular addition to their touring schedule. From their landmark ballad of unrequited love, Living Next Door to Alice to more chart-topping hits like Lay Back in the Arms of Someone, If…
Find out more »