Tandanya is the oldest Aboriginal-owned and -run cultural centre in Australia,[3] opened in 1989. The first exhibition featured artworks on silk created by women from Utopia in the Northern Territory, entitled Utopia — A Picture Story.[4]
Its core activities, as listed in the 2015-6 Annual Report, are: 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 is 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.[9]
The centre runs programs and performances as part of NAIDOC Week.[9]
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.[11]
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.[4]