Page 31 - Tropic Magazine Issue 25

TROPIC • COVER STORY

Image Wade Lewis & Matt Mallett

LEGACY FOR

THE FUTURE The annual celebration of
ONLINE SHOWCASE

Aboriginal and Torres Strait arts
and culture enters an exciting
new digital era at the 2020
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.

Drawing on a tradition of innovation in the arts, the
Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair is entering a bold new
phase in 2020. This year’s event is an evolution that is
digital, global, cultural and ground-breaking. Facing
the same disruptive dilemma as events all over the
world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CIAF Board
and operational team needed to rethink and reshape
just about everything the festival had so successfully
delivered over the past 10 years – and fast. There was
no question that the festival had to go ahead, in one
form or another. The importance of CIAF goes beyond
words, providing significant income, expression
and cultural exchange for artists and communities
in Cape York and Torres Strait, along with CIAF’s
growing stature among collectors. The general public
has also embraced the event since its launch in 2009,
with tens of thousands of people attending annually.

This article may contain images of deceased ancestors.

31 • tropicnow.com.au