Page 34 - Tropic Magazine Issue 25

TROPIC • COVER STORY

1

INSPIRING WAY TO
CONNECT
CIAF general manager Darrell Harris
said the organisation is committed
to keeping CIAF and Far Northern
Indigenous Arts at the forefront as both
a national and global trend setter.
“To do this, we need to shore up those
important relationships with artists,
arts centres and community on a local 2
and national level,” he said. “Our aim
is to present CIAF to the world as an
artistic and cultural showcase event of Q&A
Queensland’s First Peoples spanning all Arone Meeks
of the arts. This is fundamental to the Artist
meaning and inclusiveness of CIAF as
a meeting place, a market place and a What does CIAF mean to you personally and to the broader community in 2020?
community ‘movement’.” CIAF to me is a creative and informative way to showcase how we as many nations
The Queensland Government is in Queensland are passing on traditional knowledge, building our skills and taking
supporting CIAF with annual funding of
Arone Meeks, The Gesture $600,000 as well as additional support on new technical materials. I believe it gives us a strong voice to share with the
broader and global community.
for the Premier’s Award for Excellence
category in the CIAF Art Awards. What are the new opportunities you see for the festival and for artists with the
Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said pivot to digital?
the digital delivery for CIAF 2020 was This is a very exciting time to take on and give the broader community and our own
an inspiring way to enjoy the festival in mob an opportunity to be an active participant in this digital presentation. We will
what has been a challenging year for the have access to share, interact and grow. From the various artforms and discussions
arts community. being held through this CIAF 2020 festival, I am also very keen to see how the
“I am excited to share the talent and fashion show plays out as they utilise Tropical North Queensland as a backdrop.
creativity of Queensland’s Aboriginal I am sure this will also open potential new opportunities, through commissions,
and Torres Strait Islander artists and exhibitions and other creative opportunities here and abroad.
performers with a potential worldwide
audience, through this innovative online What are you most looking forward to seeing at this year’s event?
format,” Minister Enoch said. All of it. I was delivering works for the
Undercurrents exhibition at The Tanks
Arts Centre, and wow! What a wonderful
collection of Indigenous views of Cook’s 250th
anniversary. There is also a retrospective of
Bala Billy Missi, the fashion extravaganza
and the showcasing of all the up and coming
talent. CIAF is a rare and proud time for us
Queenslanders.
34 • Tropic • Issue 25