Feeling embrace as attitudes shift
WHILE THIS YEAR’S EVENT IS STILL A FEW MONTHS AWAY, WE ARE OPTIMISTIC FOR ITS FUTURE AND THE FUTURE OF OUR ARTISTS AND PERFORMERS
THERE is definitely a mind shift at play.
Australia’s desire for contemporary creativity and world view of its First Nation Peoples is starting to resonate.
As the artistic director of Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) I am at the coalface of this altered opinion which, for me personally, I believe has much to do with events like ours and providing an inclusive platform to celebrate indigenous peoples’ cultures – through visual and performing arts to knowledge sharing.
This observation was brought home to me last week when I embarked on a twoday, fast-paced business trip to Sydney.
There, I met and spoke to curators, sponsors and prospective partners about CIAF and ways in which we could all work together to achieve mutually beneficial aims.
Every person I met was either highly respected in the art world or from larger corporations and creative entities underpinned by a passion and desire to improve the relationship between indigenous people and the state.
That in itself is telling of a new respect in our day and age.
What became immediately apparent was that, in its ninth year, CIAF had evolved to a point where its reputation had preceded it.
Instead of doing the bid- ding, the roles had been reversed. Along with my team and our board, I am very much a part of something that people want to be involved in.
We have now reached the stage where there is pride in authority.
Serendipitously, Pride in Authority is the title of this year’s key exhibition at the Tanks Arts Centre.
By focusing on three of Far North Queensland’s Aboriginal communities – Mornington/Bentick Island, Pormpuraaw and Aurukun – we have undertaken a series of three, week-long art workshops and knowledge-sharing activities that will culminate in a showcase of multimedia works conveying the diverse and complex systems of connection to country through new media, paintings, sculpture, language and storytelling.
The intended outcomes of this intergenerational project are based on creating opportunities for our elders and senior artists to engage and inspire young emerging artists.
In essence, we have enabled a proactive transference of knowledge that will resonate within the community and to a wider audience. Put simply, Queensland’s First Peoples’ cultural authority and ideology is at CIAF’s core.
And importantly, its impact is not limited to three days in July but continues the good fight throughout the year by convening a series of projects that are aimed at generating a sense of value and dialogue and, often, joy.
We are proud of what we achieve at CIAF and, while this year’s event is still a few months away, we are optimistic for its future and the future of our artists and performers who derive immense value, not just financial, but from being a part of something special, long may they flourish.
Janina Harding has been the artistic director of Cairns Indigenous Art Fair since 2015.