Celebrate art in the park
FROM bold acrylic on canvas paintings to beautiful, artisan-crafted timber and handwoven artworks, crowds can enjoy the stunning works on show at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair along with free live music on Saturday.
The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Art Market, open from 4pm at Munro Martin Parklands, will feature 17 market stalls representing Queensland’s best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.
Cairns artist Susan Reys, of Kgari 3 Sisters, said being able to show her work at CIAF was a real thrill.
“It’s an opportunity to showcase and sell our artwork because the CIAF festival has not gone ahead as per usual,” she said.
“We will have screen prints, ceramics, jewellery made from wood and ceramics, and the wooden coolamons (dishes).
“It is really exciting and rewarding to sell my artwork in person.
“I love sharing my stories and experiences with people.”
For CIAF’s Art Market, Francoise Lane of Indij Design is releasing the brand’s
popular Sergeant Major earrings in a new pastel range along with the recently released Black Bean earrings.
Ms Lane said her products were aimed at sophisticated buyers of authentic Indigenous art and design and would target Christmas gift shoppers seeking products with a
deeper meaning of connection to place, country and family.
“We are selling tea towels, notebooks, Christmas cards, cards, cotton voile scarves, organic sweetpea gauze baby wraps, organic cotton knit head wraps and earrings,” Ms Lane said.
The Music in the Park event in the evening includes headliners such as singer Naomi Wenitong, Smith Lui of Seebreez as well as Cape bands Black Image and Warrigan.
In its 11 years of operation, CIAF has attracted attention from international and national
institutional and private collectors, curators, media and the public with more than 320,000 visitors and approximately $8m in art sales generated, which has allowed the artistic community to further develop their art practice.