Collection Development
Guidance on developing meaningful collections of Australian First Nations art for private, corporate, or institutional collections, along with collection analysis and assessments tailored to your needs.
Art Consultant — Australian First Nations Art
Luke Scholes
Luke is a highly respected figure in the Australian arts sector, with twenty years of experience across the collections, communities, and institutions that shape the First Nations art field.
About
Luke's twenty-year practice spans the commercial and museum sectors as a curator, consultant, and scholar specialising in Australian First Nations art. Working alongside Aboriginal knowledge holders and cultural experts, he has developed major research projects, exhibitions, and publications. He has assisted in the development of numerous private and institutional collections across Australia, the US, and Europe. He is now channelling this experience into an independent advisory practice based in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory.
More about me
Luke was Director, D Lan Galleries between 2024 and 2026. Prior to this, he was an Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University, studying a collection of over 800 crayon drawings created by Aboriginal stockmen at Birrundudu Pastoral Station in 1945. The project, Collecting at the Crossroads: Anthropology, Art and Cultural Change (ARC LP200100045), was funded by the Australian Research Council.
Luke was Curator of Aboriginal Art and Material Culture at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) between 2015 and 2021. During this time he curated the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, and, alongside senior Pintupi, Luritja and Warlpiri men, co-curated the award-winning exhibition Tjungunutja: from having come together (2017). In 2020 he curated the moment eternal: Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu, MAGNT's first ever solo exhibition, which was highly commended at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMAGA) Awards. Other exhibitions include Fresh: connecting new & old art (2021), Momentum: Recent acquisitions of Aboriginal art (2019), and Tiwi Ceramics: feeling for pattern (2018).
At MAGNT, Luke completed the institution's first ever Collection Development Strategy for its Aboriginal art and material culture collection — one of the finest in the world, with over 3,000 items. The strategy assessed the collection's strengths and weaknesses and set a direction for consolidating and building the collection into the future. He also initiated MAGNT's Supporters of Aboriginal Art Circle, which continues to drive the majority of the museum's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art acquisitions, and raised over one million dollars in support for MAGNT's exhibitions, acquisitions, and collection development during his tenure.
Between 2010 and 2011, Luke was Project Officer, Indigenous Art, at the National Gallery of Victoria, where he was pivotal in delivering the landmark exhibition Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Art, and contributed to the development of the NGV's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art collection and exhibition program.
In 2008 he worked as a travelling field officer for Martumili Artists in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Between 2003 and 2007 he worked as a field officer at Kintore, Northern Territory, and Kiwirrkura, Western Australia, before becoming assistant manager at Papunya Tula Artists.
Press
If we go on to ask who are the writers and curators that have made the most outstanding contributions to the greater acceptance of Indigenous art, we can't overlook names such as Howard Morphy, Fred Myers, Judith Ryan, Vivien Johnson, Wally Caruana, Luke Scholes, Ian McLean, Peter Sutton, and so on.
John McDonald, Everything the artworld doesn't want you to know, June 2026
Services
Honesty | Transparency | Discretion
Community Consultation
Over twenty years' experience working alongside communities in remote parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia on major research projects, exhibitions, and publications.
Exhibition Curation
End-to-end exhibition development — concept, artist and object selection, interpretation, and design — for galleries and museums, including major narrative exhibitions.
Writing & Research
Major historical research projects, catalogue essays, exhibition text, and editorial direction for cultural institutions, galleries, and publications.
Provenance & Cataloguing
Research into the provenance of specific works and entire collections. Cataloguing of private and institutional collections, database management, and condition reporting.
Experience
Selected experience & recognition.
Roles
- 2024 — 2026 Director D Lan Galleries (Contemporary), Melbourne / Sydney / New York
- 2021 — 2024 Associate Research Fellow, Collecting at the Crossroads: Anthropology, Art and Cultural Change (ARC LP200100045) Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Mparntwe (Alice Springs)
- 2015 — 2021 Curator of Aboriginal Art and Material Culture Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2014 — 2015 Consultant Curator, Tjungunutja: from having come together Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2013 — 2014 Social Support Coordinator Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation, Alice Springs
- 2013 — 2014 Consultant Project Officer (Part-time) Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2012 Visual Arts Officer Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
- 2010 — 2011 Project Officer, Indigenous Art National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- 2008 — 2009 Researcher Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2008 Field Officer Martumili Artists, Pilbara region, Western Australia
- 2003 — 2007 Field Officer & Assistant Manager Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs
Exhibitions
- 2021 Fresh: connecting new & old art Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2020 the moment eternal: Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2020 37th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2019 36th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2018 35th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2018 — 2019 Momentum: Recent acquisitions of Aboriginal art Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2018 Tiwi Ceramics: feeling for pattern Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2017 — 2019 Tjungunutja: from having come together (co-curator) Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin & Alice Springs
- 2017 34th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2016 33rd Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
- 2011 — 2012 Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Art National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- 2011 — 2013 Living Water: Contemporary Art of the Far Western Desert National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Awards & Recognition
- 2021 Museums & Galleries Australia National Award — Highly Commended the moment eternal: Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu
- 2018 Museums & Galleries Australia National Award — Best Indigenous Project, Best Multimedia (Level A), Best in Show: Multimedia Tjungunutja: from having come together
- 2018 Mander Jones Award, Australian Society of Archivists — Winner (Cat. 2A), Highly Commended (Cat. 5) Tjungunutja: from having come together catalogue
- 2017 NT Chief Minister's Excellence in Partnering Award Tjungunutja: from having come together
- 2017 Shortlisted, NT Chief Minister's History Book Award Tjungunutja: from having come together catalogue
- 2015 NT Literary Award — Browns Mart Script Award, Winner Untitled
Publications & Essays
Editor & Writer
- 2025 Birrundudu Drawings Upswell Publishing
- 2023 Sun and Shadow: Art of the Spinifex People Upswell Publishing
- 2017 Tjungunutja: from having come together Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Contributing Writer
- 2021 "An indelible mark" in Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places), Jam Factory, Adelaide
- 2019 "Marked beginnings: the emergence of art at Papunya" in Before Time Began: Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Fondation Opale, Switzerland
- 2017 Contributor Tarnanthi, Art Gallery of South Australia
- 2012 "Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community" Catalogue essay, Araluen Arts Centre, Mparntwe (Alice Springs)
- 2011 Contributor Tjukurrtjanu: Origins of Western Desert Art, National Gallery of Victoria
- 2008 Contributor Beyond Sacred: Australian Aboriginal Art, the Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney
- 2008 — 2011 Essays & catalogue texts Art & Australia; Australian Aboriginal Art; Scott Livesey Galleries; Papunya Tula Artists
Keynotes & Advisory Roles
- 2019 "At the Centre" — keynote with Bobby West Tjupurrula & Matthew Pinta Tjapangati Australian Museums & Galleries Association National Conference, Alice Springs
- 2018 "Working with a collection — Tjungunutja" — keynote Spark NT Symposium, Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts, Katherine
- 2020 — Present Board Member Charles Darwin University Cultural Collections Advisory Board
- 2018 — 2021 Member National Aboriginal Art Gallery Reference Group, NT Government
Contact
Let's talk about your project.
luke@lukescholes.com.auMparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory, Australia