Submit your work

Pitch to Blue Art Journal

Our submission box is open for Indigenous and First Nations writers worldwide. Pitches will be considered by the Editorial team and editor-at-large on a rolling basis.

Diverse voices, opinions and creative approaches excite us. Publishing writing that expands and enriches discussions of Indigenous visual art, craft and design is what we’re here to do, so don’t be shame. If you’ve never written about art, you might be the perfect person to write something.

While English is the primary language of the publishing industry, we know waking up and preserving our languages is important. We welcome multi-lingual writing (with translation, or meaning-making context). If your pitch doesn’t fit neatly into the categories below, don’t be discouraged–reach out to us and start the conversation.

Please read the below guidelines carefully when preparing your pitch.

Guidelines by Category:

These are just some of the questions you might try to answer within the below formats.

Examine how Indigenous visual art is being activated, challenged, or transformed within contemporary (Australian) contexts. Reflect on the artist’s intent, audience reception, and wider cultural impact.

Essays that provide deep reflection, provoke thought, and offer insight. Themes should speak to the times we live in, resonating across Indigenous visual cultures, politics, and practices. This might have a central argument and/or reflect on a body of research.

Engage thoughtfully with Indigenous visual art, artists, exhibitions, or cultural practices. Acceptable forms include poetry, personal reflections, storytelling, and hybrid creative formats, something we don’t even know about yet!

Move beyond biography to deeply engage with an artist’s work, context, and contribution to Indigenous visual arts over time. Emphasise the artist’s unique perspective, methodology and legacy.

Provide an engaging overview of a gallery or cultural centre, highlighting its programs, exhibitions, and contributions to Indigenous visual art. Can include interviews or statements to convey institutional vision and impact. Additionally, if you would like Blue Art Journal to review an exhibition at your gallery or art centre, you can commission us anytime. Just get in touch!

Conduct thoughtful interviews with artists, curators, or cultural practitioners. Focus on genuine engagement with creative practice, cultural context, and critical reflection. The interview should feel conversational yet insightful, offering readers meaningful insights.

Offer a clear, strong point of view on current issues, debates, or trends in Indigenous visual arts. Opinions should be well-argued, engaging, and grounded in lived experience, cultural knowledge, or critical observation.

Submission Notes

Please don’t send us finished work–we can’t guarantee it will be published. These guidelines are for pitches only.
Include a working title, brief summary, rough word count, key themes, artists or exhibition, and your ideal publication timeline.
Include a 50-100 word bio with some info about your writing to date
We publish quarterly but we are interested in story over timeliness, and our guest editors consider any press releases and stories at their discretion

We’re also open for submission ideas that may take the form of video, interviews, day-in-the-life features, or audio content alongside or in place of written contributions. Expanding the ways Indigenous voices are shared and experienced is an important part of our accessibility policy.

All pitches will be reviewed carefully. Ultimately we value innovation, diversity of opinion and contexts, as long as there’s thoughtful and respectful engagement with Indigenous visual arts, crafts, and design.

Send all pitches to: editorial@blueartjournal.com

Blue Art Journal creates space for First Nations writers, artists and critics to lead, critique, challenge, experiment and to tell stories on their own terms.

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Blue Art Journal acknowledges the First Peoples of this land and recognises their continuous connection to culture, community and Country.

Bob Gibson, Patjantja, 2025

synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 180.0 x 150.0 cm
(c) Bob Gibson, courtesy Vivien Anderson Gallery, Narrm/Melbourne

Ita Tipungwuti, Parlini Jilamara, 2007

earth pigment on canvas, 160.0 x 200.0 cm
(c) Ita Tipungwuti, courtesy Vivien Anderson Gallery, Narrm/Melbourne

Clare Jaque Vasquez, The Haze And The Hush, 2025

acrylic and impasto on stretched canvas, 130.0 x 150.0 cm
(c) Clare Jaque Vasquez, courtesy Vivien Anderson Gallery, Narrm/Melbourne

Charles Inkamala, Glen Helen, Mission Days, 2025

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 61 x 61 cm
(c) Courtesy of Vivien Anderson Gallery

Maree Clarke, The Long Journey Home 8, 2024

digital print on photographic paper, 69.0 x 102.5 cm
(c) Maree Clarke, courtesy Vivien Anderson Gallery, Narrm/Melbourne

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