Specsavers has launched a limited-edition eyewear range featuring work by Atipalku Intjalki, an Ernabella artist and Pitjantjatjara woman. The release marks 15 years of the retailer’s partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation and its 10th artist collaboration.
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The frames are priced at $199, with $25 from every pair sold donated to the Foundation’s Indigenous Australia Program. Specsavers aims to raise $500,000 through the range, equal to sales of 20,000 pairs.
Artwork returns the partnership to APY Lands
The collection features Intjalki’s artwork Tjukurpa Mulayangu, which depicts her father’s Country in the western Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. The design includes tjanpi, or native grass, and tjukula, or waterholes.
At the centre of the story is Mulayangu, a wanampi or water snake. Its journey across the APY Lands is said to have created rockholes that sustain life in the region.
The 2026 range also returns the artist program to the APY Lands, where its first collaboration began.
“For 50 years, I have made art here in the middle of my community. I paint my father’s Country to keep his story alive,” Intjalki said.
“It’s really lovely to see my artwork on the Specsavers frames. I make my work inside the Ernabella Art Centre, and when I walk outside I see the people in my community and I feel connected to my Country.
“I’m happy that everyone, including my family, can see the work I make and the stories I’m telling through this partnership.”
Intjalki has worked at Ernabella Arts for more than 50 years across painting, batik, weaving and woodwork. Her work has appeared in more than 50 exhibitions in Australia and overseas.
Joanna Poon, senior frame portfolio manager at Specsavers, said: “This year’s collection translates Atipalku’s artistic storytelling directly onto the frames, which have been designed and manufactured using sustainable materials.
“The result is a collection that blends contemporary eyewear design with a strong artistic influence, offering something both functional and visually unique.”
Partnership targets preventable vision loss
Specsavers said funds raised in 2025 helped the Indigenous Australia Program screen more than 24,000 people. The program also delivered more than 330 surgeries and 3,600 diabetic retinopathy treatments.
Across the 15-year partnership, Specsavers said its donations have helped the Foundation and its program partners to:
- screen more than 155,550 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
- conduct more than 20,750 cataract surgeries and other eye treatments;
- provide more than 16,400 diabetic retinopathy treatments; and
- train more than 1,000 health care workers to deliver culturally responsive care.
The launch follows the World Health Organization’s validation on 29 April 2026 that Australia had eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Australia became the 30th country to reach the benchmark, although ongoing surveillance and treatment remain necessary.
Tanya Morris, Indigenous Australia Program director at The Fred Hollows Foundation, said timely access to eye care could prevent or treat much vision loss.
“The recent WHO declaration that Australia has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem is an important milestone for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye health and a reminder of what long-term partnership and community-led care can achieve,” Morris said.
The limited-edition range is listed through Specsavers stores and its website. Each pair comes with a collector’s case and cleaning cloth featuring Intjalki’s design.