Page 36 - Tropic Magazine Issue 25

TROPIC • COVER STORY

Q&A
Lynelle Flinders
Designer and artist

Q&A What does CIAF mean to you personally
Simone Arnol and to the broader community in 2020?
The arts play a different and necessary part
Fashion performance curator, designer in contributing to the health, development
and artist and wellbeing of our society. CIAF is a
great platform to showcase Indigenous
What does CIAF mean to you personally stories and culture through different
and to the broader community in 2020? mediums. CIAF has allowed me to indulge
One word sums up what CIAF means to in a passion that I want everyone to see. I
me personally and that is ‘challenge’. A want my work to matter. My goal is that I
personal journey within myself to step want people to look at my work and say to
up the creativity to captivate the wider themselves: “If she can do that, so can I!”
community whilst keeping it ‘grassroots’.
I hope they then have the courage to step
forward and do something about it.
What are the new opportunities you see
for the festival and for artists with the What are the new opportunities you see
pivot to digital? for the festival and for artists with the
The CIAF digital festival provides a pivot to digital?
platform for artists to showcase their With a wider audience being reached to
works to a worldwide audience. The see what CIAF is about, this swing to a
digital platform also allows the artist digital platform will deliver an amazing
to use the digital links capturing experience for guests. The region as well
their art form that can be used in as artwork from Cape York to Torres Strait
grant applications as supporting will be on display - you couldn’t get better
documentation - giving funding bodies a tourist advertising than that.
visual insight into the artist’s talent.
What are you most looking forward to
What are you most looking forward to seeing at this year’s event?
seeing at this year’s event? I could be biased and say the fashion
CIAF’s virtual fashion performance, performance, but really, I look forward
Water is Sacred, of course! to seeing the festival, and the best thing
about the digital platform is that I can 1. Shimmer - Simone Arnol & the Djunngaal Yarrabah
watch it over and over. Elders Group
2. Lynelle Flinders, Sown in Time

Central Western Desert work that many What are the new opportunities you see
people in the broader community associate for the festival and for artists with the
with Indigenous art. So, it’s always good pivot to digital?
to have a dedicated platform for people to We have an opportunity to display works
1
experience our work. This year is 250 years to a broader audience - internationally
Q&A since Cook’s arrival in Australia. It’s a really and throughout Australia. People who,
important time for the Guugu Ymithirr
due to distance, wouldn’t normally be able
Hope Vale Arts and Culture Centre community. We’ve taken time to think to travel and experience CIAF in person
Visual art exhibitions and fashion about the way things have changed for our can now. It’s a very significant year for
performance people because of that one event. It’s been Indigenous communities in Cape York, so it
hard, and a bit sad, and a bit bittersweet is nice to know that people will get to see
What does CIAF mean to you personally to think about the long-lasting impact of the work that we’ve produced.
and to the broader community in 2020? that single event, but we know that there
We love that it is an opportunity to are lots of people who want to hear from What are you most looking forward to
celebrate the artwork produced by us about our thoughts and feelings. It’s seeing at this year’s event?
communities in Queensland. Our voices not easy to put into words how much it The highlight for us every single year is
and stories are distinct and different means to us that we have not only had the the fashion showcase. We’re very excited
to those of Indigenous communities platform to tell our stories this year, but to see how the team have found a way to
elsewhere in Australia, and our artwork also that there is an audience out there bring our fashion collection to life this year,
looks very different to lots of the beautiful waiting and ready to hear them. considering that there is no runway.

36 • Tropic • Issue 25