A contemporary Indigenous-run art gallery space showcasing artworks from world Indigenous cultures

Blak Dot Gallery acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we work, live and create: the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people and Elders past and present of the Kulin nations, Naarm (Melbourne).

Blak Dot Gallery, based in Naarm (Melbourne), is Australia’s leading gallery for contemporary First Nations art. Founded in 2011 as a First Nations artist–run space, Blak Dot was created to champion the strength, innovation, and cultural knowledge of First Nations artists and to celebrate connections with world Indigenous cultures.

Grounded in First Nations sovereignty, cultural protocols, and community leadership, Blak Dot Gallery supports artists to continually redefine and evolve contemporary culture. We work closely with a strong network of First Nations artists across Victoria and Australia, ensuring they have sustained access to a professional, culturally safe gallery environment. Our ongoing commitment is to create spaces where First Nations artists can share their stories, practices, and lived experiences - through customary forms, experimental approaches, or mixed-media practices.

Alongside this core focus, Blak Dot also welcomes collaborations with culturally diverse communities whose practices resonate with our values of cultural resilience, self-determination, and community knowledge. These relationships extend our understanding of Indigenous and diasporic connections, while always centring First Nations voices.

We present a vibrant annual program of exhibitions - solo, group, and community-driven - along with workshops, performances, community events, panel discussions, lectures, and artist markets. As a key participant in major arts festivals across Naarm, Blak Dot fosters meaningful engagement between our artists, communities, and wider audiences. Through this work, the gallery continues to be a vital platform for First Nations cultural expression, intercultural dialogue, and the sharing of knowledge across world Indigenous cultures.

Our work gives insight into the cultural values and experiences of Indigenous communities through the creative use of modern practice. At Blak Dot Gallery we are committed to working with the following values:

Sovereignty: We are a First Nations led organisation that places primacy on the voices of First Nations peoples in everything that we do. We encourage and support self-determination through artistic and cultural expression.

Reciprocity: We embrace and are embraced by the communities around us. We acknowledge that our communities contribute to the vibrancy of our organisation and seek to support the positive development of the communities we work within.

Respect: We are an inclusive and safe space for all - particularly so for women, young people and people from the LGBTQI community.

Vibrancy: We strive to be a dynamic organisation that continually re-defines and evolves contemporary First Nations culture.

Leadership: The leadership of our organisation is centred around First Nations cultural ways and protocols. We lead and operate our organisation according to First Nations values and knowledges.

Blak Dot Gallery also provides opportunities to teach and mentor aspiring Indigenous curators and art workers. We offer a dedicated critical Indigenous learning space for First Nation Creatives, Blakademy.

Blakademy is now home to five community groups and individual artists. Blakademy has hot desks for study or group workshops, reading and writing, as well as a large collection of global and local Indigenous and non-European diasporic texts (catalogues, monographs, anthologies, magazines).

Blak Dot Gallery is a non-for profit organisation governed by a Board of Directors.

Blak Dot acknowledges the support of Australian Government Indigenous Language and Arts, Creative Victoria and Merri-bek Council.

Blak Dot is a proud member of Contemporary Art Organisations Australia (CAOA).