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| CIAF |
An expanded entertainment program, headlined by ARIA award-winning songstress Christine Anu, will offer a stunning mix of dance, song, theatre, film, fashion and food in and around the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal.
Six other venues will also host art exhibitions and events including Bungaree’s Farm, which has just won the top National Award at the 2015 Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNAs) and will be shown in the Tanks Arts Centre.
For the first time the Art Fair will be curated by new Artistic Director Janina Harding in collaboration with accomplished curator, writer and ABC Art + Soul creator Hetti Perkins, to showcase the most accomplished, innovative and authentic art from the state.
Queensland Indigenous art has its own distinct aesthetic, influenced by a vast and varied landscape, from tropical rainforest, to the islands of the Torres Strait to the rugged terrain of Cape York.
Bright colours, unique ghost network - a whole genre of art which uses discarded fishing nets for weaving - as well as pottery, painting and many other art forms characteristic to the region will feature at CIAF.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Cairns Indigenous Art Fair was an ideal platform for Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to market and showcase their art to the world.
“The Queensland Government supports CIAF through Arts Queensland and Tourism and Events Queensland as a major tourism drawcard for the region,” the Premier said.
“CIAF presents economic opportunities for Queensland artists and Indigenous arts centres and I look forward to another great event in 2015.”
In another first, and in a direct response to requests from previous attendees, CIAF’s new management team will also bring collectors and curators to Yarrabah Arts & Cultural Centre to meet local artists at work.
The group will include visitors from the Museums of the American Indian, Smithsonian Museum, Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Gallery from the University of Virginia, The Australian National Maritime Museum and many major private collectors. No other Indigenous Art Fair in Australia offers this kind of connection.
Christine Anu will kick CIAF off on a high note at the popular Opening Night Party on Thursday 30 July.
The inaugural CIAF Art Market will see Indigenous art, craft and merchandise displayed in Terminal Two, providing a chance for the public to buy work directly from up-and-coming artists. The Art Market will operate in tandem to the major exhibition curated by Artistic Director Janina Harding and Curator Hetti Perkins.
Last year’s highlight, CIAF’s Indigenous Fashion Show, returns this year as Birrimbi Dulgu Bajal (Sea and Rainforest Dreaming), this time in a larger format to accommodate an ever-increasing appetite for locally sourced, authentic and beautiful pieces from Queensland Indigenous designers.
Malthouse Theatre’s nationally acclaimed Blak Cabaret will also hit the stage at Tanks Arts Centre from Tuesday 28 July to Friday 31 July as part of CIAF, turning the history of colonial Australia on its head in a raucously funny and bitingly satirical show.
Award winning Bungaree’s Farm, a multi-media exhibition curated by Djon Mundine OAM, will take up residence from 28 May in the Tanks Arts Centre. Spanning contemporary Indigenous audio, video, performance and installation art, the exhibition explores the legacy of Bungaree, the first Aboriginal person in Australia to be granted land by authorities but who was ultimately a man caught between two worlds.
Principal sponsor for the event, Ports North, has been a proud partner to CIAF since its inception.
“This is a significant sponsorship for Ports North and provides an excellent opportunity to showcase Cityport and the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal to a national and international audience,” Ports North Chairman, Brett Moller said.
“The Cruise Terminal, with its views across Trinity Inlet to the rain forest of the Yarrabah Range makes it an ideal venue to celebrate the culture of the indigenous people of Queensland. In addition to driving and supporting the region’s economic growth through its core business port and tourism operations, Ports North is committed to playing an important part in supporting the region’s broad social and cultural community activities. CIAF is another demonstration of that commitment.”
CIAF Artistic Director Janina Harding said the 2015 program would bring together artistic, social and cultural experiences, while also creating vital economic opportunities for Queensland artists.
““The Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal will become a hub of activity for CIAF with a spectacular line-up of Indigenous dance performances, children’s activities including acrobatics and ghost net workshops, fantastic pop-up food stores and cafes, and the exciting Art Market along the waterfront,” she said.
“CIAF will be embracing all creative outlets, from cabaret and comedy to screen and fashion, to give a complete view of Indigenous culture.
“We have a long term strategy to forge career pathways for artists and this will be an important part of CIAF 2015, involving workshops and other opportunities for artists to progress from the Art Market, to the Art Fair, for example.”
For more information and to book tickets, visit ciaf.com.au.
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