WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 51 In the CIAF Fashion Story exhibition, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) honoured the spark that ignited the fashion movement in the region. Regional Indigenous Fashion and Textile Show, known as RIFTS, celebrated their ten year anniversary in 2022. RIFTS is a grassroots and inclusive community-driven annual event which began in 2012, led by respected community leaders Bronwyn Singleton, Maria Laxton and Noel Gertz. The exhibition at the Court House Gallery, in partnership with the Cairns Regional Council, is Co-Curated by Francoise Lane (of Indij Design) and Janina Harding, CIAF Artistic Director up until 2022. They brought to the fore CIAF’s 2022 Masters of Country theme through the creative expression of fashion and performance. Three distinct galleries make up Fashion Story. ‘RIFTS The Journey’ captured the beginnings, the people and evolution of this grass roots community led movement in the Barrister’s and Baliff’s Room. Maria Laxton explained, 'RIFTS has established itself as a home grown, grass roots, annual event. One that the whole community can be proud of. It has been seen as a platform for not just Indigenous designers, but any established or emerging artist/designer who want to showcase their unique and creative fashion designs.' Blossoming out from RIFTS is sustainable fashion designer, Cheryl Creed, of Murrii Quu Couture. In 2021Creed took her collection to Milan Fashion Week whilst also launching Fashique Runway which she described as ‘Cairns first and most glamorous fashion event celebrating sustainable fashion, with a Hollywood vibe.’ The Court Room Gallery featured the CIAF’s FashionPerformances across 2020 and 2021 presenting never-before-seen fashion design installations; under the curatorial lead of Simone Arnol and Bernard Singleton (from 2018-2020)and Clinton Naina in 2021. There was a shift in the artistic direction of the Fashion Performances that connected deeply with Country. Arnol, Singleton, Naina and choreographer Hans Ahwang took no prisoners as they threw provocative messages of climate emergency and land rights in our faces, with resolution and defiance. 'The online presentation of the 2020 and 2021 FashionPerformances at times focused on details of the garment designs too, then panned out to aerial views of Country. There is a timeless quality to the footage as the drone swept across Country resounding... Always Was, Always Will Be. The contemporaryIndigenous and evocative choreography of Hans Ahwang is particularly moving,' said Ms. Lane. In the Court Room, five stunning designer collections were displayed, including the White Sands Collection by IreneRobinson. Ms Robinson’s garments and adornments reflect her connection to the extensive and uniquely significant living cultural landscape of Wuthathi Country—Shelbourne Bay in theNorth-Eastern Cape, of which she is a descendant. Also featured is the Flora and Fauna Nomore Collection—a joint project between Djunngaal Elders Group and Yarrabah Arts and Cultural Centre artists, in collaboration with Indij Design. It’s much more than a wearable arts project. The methodology over the project is born from the 1967 Referendum and Indigenous peoples no longer being identified under as Flora and Fauna and seen as Plant or Animal, giving the title of the collection: Flora& Fauna No more. The project upheld the symbiotic and sacred relationship between Indigenous people and connectedness to culture and Country. These relationships have been thoughtfully and intentionally imbedded into the creative process and production of the garments. The project began with a blessing and smoking ceremony on elder AuntyGwen Schrieber’s Country, the original campground of the Gunggandji people. Charcoal extracted from the fireplace was used to draw the conceptual artwork later adapted to textile design. The Clerk’s Room showcased the craftsmanship of the body adornments made from naturally sourced materials from the2018 Bulmba - Barra (When bare feet touch the earth) and2019 Bulwal – Barra (Messenger) Fashion Performances. 2021National Indigenous Fashion Awards (NIFA) EnvironmentalAward winners Simone Arnol and Mylene Holroyd collaboration was presented in large format photographs, with a selection of the wearable art ghost net woven pieces on display. Designers, models, and artists showcased in CIAF Fashion Story cover the expanse of Queensland from Southeast Queensland, to Central and North Queensland, Tropical North, Cape York Peninsula, and the Torres Strait. Four of the six designer collections on display are NIFA 2022 Nominees. Visitors were mesmerised by the culturally unique fashion collections and performances presented from a First Nations perspective. CIAF FASHION STORY
52 ABOVE: Sarah Fagan wears a Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre headdress with Simone Arnol designs. BELOW: Kale Bardi and James Stevens wear Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre wearable art, with Simone Arnol designs. Photographs by Blueclick Photography, 2021
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 53 Pormpuraaw Arts & Culture Centre started exploring fashion and performance when they were encouraged to get involved in Cairns Indigenous Art Fair’s 2019 fashion performance. This set in motion an idea that came up over Pormpuraaw’s ghost net sculptures two years earlier. PORMPURAAW WEARABLE ART Pormpuraaw artists began working with discarded fishing nets also called ghost nets in 2009. Ghost nets are illegally discarded commercial fishing nets abandoned at sea rather than returned to land and disposed of properly. When abandoned at sea they drift with the currents killing ocean life needlessly. We wanted to help educate people as to the harmful environmental effects ghost nets have on ocean life, many of them their totems. Totems are animals, places or things. A totem is how an Aboriginal person identifies themselves, ancestors and connection to country. A totem is their first ancestor and what they become when they die. In 2017, while Pormpuraaw was exhibiting as part of ‘Australia: Defending the Oceans exhibition (Co-curated by Stéphane Jacob, of Arts d’Australie, and Suzanne O’Connell Gallery)’ at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, it was suggested the sculptural works are reminiscent of Lady Gaga and her creative fashion objects. A slightly eccentric idea that planted the seed and a possible niche to develop in the future. This idea was re-explored with the prospect of participating in the CIAF Fashion Performances. Since then the concept has developed and wearable art has gone from strength to strength. Gunggandji Yarrabah artist and fashion designer Simone Arnol and her partner Bernie Singleton came on board to collaborate with the Pormpuraaw artists, and in 2019 together they made barramundi, turtle, stone-fish and a crocodile head, which were worn and performed in by Bamaga dancers. Pormpuraaw artists including principal artist Christine Holroyd watched the catwalk with pride from the VIP area. In 2020, due to COVID-19, Simone and Bernie made a film incorporating new Pormpuraaw works and it was shown in CIAF Fashion Performance 2020— Water is Sacred. This included fish, mud crab, birds, and jellyfish suspended from poles and sculptures carried in the performer’s hands. This film proved incredibly popular and inspired Marie Claire magazine to incorporate some of Simone’s and Pormpuraaw works in a photo shoot. COVID-19 continued into 2021 so it was decided to again produce a film featuring wearable art, this time depicting a large brolga balanced on a person’s head and a crocodile made in several pieces. A model wore the front half of one piece and a second model wore the back half. This multi-piece work resulted in Mylene Holroyd and Simone Arnol receiving the National Indigenous Fashion Award for Environmental and Social Contribution. This film also prompted NITV to visit Pormpuraaw, and make a short piece about the artists, later shown on SBS and ABC. It was a highlight for our art and cultural centre. In 2022, Pormpuraaw artists and Simone Arnol collaborated with Sydney designer Jordon Gogos. A fashion performance is scheduled in May at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, as part of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week. This proved to be the first time Pormpuraaw’s wearable art will be shown in a mainstream event. The future is looking bright for Pormpuraaw artists. Who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing Lady Gaga herself wearing a ghost net totem headdress. WORDS: GEORGE DANN
Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre + Simone Arnol Designs, 2022. Photograph by Lovegreen Photography, 2020
Torres Strait 8 installation, including Yessie Mosby carvings. Image courtesy of Torres 8 and Sydney Biennale
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 57 Yessie Mosby is a Zenadh Kes Masig man, living in the Kulkalgal tribe area in the Central Torres Strait Islands. He is an artist and craftsman, a claimant in the Human Rights complaint to the United Nations over climate change, and the Torres Strait organiser with 350.org Australia. CLIMATE CHANGE EATS AWAY OUR HOME I am from the village of Gudumadh situated on the South-Easterly side of Masig. We are the Whouraw gubalgal (South-Easterly wind) people. We are from Masig Island, which belongs to the Kulkalgal nation. I am a traditional craftsman. I've been taught by my late father Allan Mosby, my late grandfather and my late grand-uncle Ezekiel Billy. Ezekiel Billy was a Dhari maker—he made the Torres Strait headdress for when the Queen visited. My other grand-uncle, James Williams, is my other mentor, he was a traditional craftsman, he made traditional masks and carved traditional artifacts. They played a big role in my life and the carving I do here today on Masig. When I make my traditional art I keep it authentic to how I was taught. It is such a sacred gift to have, as an Indigenous person, as a saltwater person from this part of the world. Our carving is unique to us, and ties us back to cultural lores and practices that we still abide by today. We are a race of people that abides by our traditional lore and the Westernised law. A lot of my craft is teaching people about traditional lore, and how it ties us back to our country and to our cultural practices, which links us to our ancestors. This particular art is an ancient lore, one which very few of us in the Torres Strait still practice. Climate change affects us, it eats our home away. All the traditional plants or wood that we use for a particular mask or ceremonial poles are from the country we are living on, from the bosom of Masig, from the surrounding Islands where we go and collect traditional materials. When I make a traditional mask I use particular plants. Now, due to climate change, there are massive droughts and intense storms that impact on some of these plants. There is also erosion and inundation, which also affects these plants. Climate change also impacts on the birdlife of our region. It takes particular birds to activate some of the plants I use today in my craft—they only blossom or disperse seeds during the migration when the birds fly from Australia to Papua New Guinea. When the birds fly through, they eat a particular seed, and this activates the seed so that it can grow. Now, due to the changing climate, some of these birds no longer fly between the two continents. This is how climate change is affecting me as a cultural craftsman, how it affects my ability to carry on these important cultural and traditional practices. In my work, in my art, I pay respect. When I do my craft, I do it with pride, and also with respect and care for cultural protocols. This is our art, an ancient art, and we are fighting for it to survive in the face of climate change. WORDS: YESSIE MOSBY
Pat Mau. Photography courtesy of Pat Mau
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 59 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) Creative Director Renee Harris has a yarn with Patrick Mau about the importance of keeping community music alive. OUR MUSIC What has been your experience with working with community musicians? My experience working in community with music and our musicians is lack of access to resources and information about the industry. Our communities have a lot of hidden gems, hidden talents, a lot of creative storytellers, great musicians, but no direction or a pathway and understanding of performing outside the community. What does it take to become an artist in the industry and how do you make your passion into a career? When I started, my focus was always to be a career artist. It was all about the access and support in those early days. It took me many years to build my own support to maintain myself in the industry. I’ve been in the game for over two decades now, and I’m afraid nothing has changed as far as support for community music is concerned. Even though we have access to so much technology, and so much connectivity we don’t have career development for our community musicians. When I started, there were development programs and mentorship programs designed to provide insight into the industry or enhanced stage performance and career development. Those programs are non-existent these days. When you started, what year are we talking about here? Well, I started writing in the late 90s. I was still in high school, but actually becoming active in the music industry around 1999. There was a surge of community artists actively getting out in the industry in some form. And I was a part of that. That was INTERVIEW
Cairns Central proud to support CIAF 2022
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 61 the era of movement. At that time too, access to internet and connectivity was just coming into community. You know, there was a lot of people interested in going into the communities and grabbing Community Music, without developing the artists and booking them gigs outside the community. My first challenges were being able to engage on a cultural level in community to make them understand, you know, this is what we want to do with projects, simply because we know that community past experiences have been that outside people just come in and take. So when I go into community I’m aware of the exploitation that has occurred. But I can communicate from a cultural background which makes it easier, and I maintain the relationship. In the past, outside people did what they needed to with community musicians by creating great excitement for maybe a week, and then they leave. Our mob would never see them again. I like to give back to community and develop a local base, you know, local knowledge base where musicians can document store their own music, and value their intellectual property. This is vital and are the positives around working with communities. When we connect it's the rich, with beautiful culture and the stories of our region that nobody gets to listen to, you know, nobody, gets to experience. I still love working with community today. Tell us about the genres that influence Community Music. I think it goes by generations and their era of what the sound was, and how they were able to connect to it to tell the stories. The beautiful thing about having access to culture is that it's adaptable to any genre. There is no specific style, it's just what is the sound that represents the feeling of that region. What are some of the ways our people from community start their music journey? Music is just an extension of our knowledge keeping. Learning the songs and dance is where it starts—that’s our culture. Community music is a contemporary version of that. In community, we bond over food and music is part of it. No matter where you are in this country, when there’s a function, there will be food and music. And I can go back to when I was five years old and remember when I was around that environment. And that's what I really enjoyed, like seeing my grandfather and my dad play, and the Mill Sisters. To me they were the storytellers or the musicians of their time. They would just pull out a guitar with family and free steam play, and that stuck with me, and I just love the feeling. That feeling never leaves you because you know that’s where it starts. Why do you think it's important to support our music in communities? Music is one of the pillars of our culture, it's an important tool for storytelling, even if it is contemporary storytelling it is still important to an evolving culture like ours. We must capture the times as it is. And that's how we progress and move forward as part of our healing process. We use music as a form of expression to express our own personal journey and healing and in the process touch others with our story and performance. Music is not only something that we listen, it's more something we feel—it's emotional. It’s really unfortunate that our communities don't get the support they need in the music sector because they have a lot of stories to tell. If we had more support at a grass roots level, then a lot more opportunities for growth can happen. Do you have advice for emerging community musicians? First, find out why you do it. You must love doing it, and then what is it that you want to you know and what you want to achieve? Then the journey becomes much clearer, you have a direction you can follow. I have been fortunate to work with a lot of artists, developing albums and music for them. For me, it started 20 years ago when I started recording music in my bedroom on Horn Island. This passion has never left me, I can’t see the world without music. So that would be my advice right now—the only reason I am able to do this because I know why I'm doing it. Hear more from Mau Power at www.maupower.com Music is just an extension of our knowledge keeping. Learning the songs and dance is where it starts—that’s our culture. INTERVIEW
62 In June 2021, I was appointed as Curator of Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC), a multi-disciplinary arts centre situated in the port city of Walyalup | Fremantle, just a stone’s throw from an endless sightline of wardan, the depths of the Indian Ocean. In my third week in the role, I met with colleagues at the Perth Festival to pitch the exhibition Undertow, a takeover of all our galleries, uniting seemingly disparate stories of the ocean, and our relationships to these spaces. Within just weeks, I began approaching artists about Undertow including Ngugi Quandamooka mother and daughter, Sonja, and Elisa Jane (Leecee) Carmichael. Having known the family for more than a decade and having watched their individual and collective practices over the years, their work seemed a critical inclusion to an exhibition that explored relationships to ocean spaces. Like many of us, I had been experiencing exhibitions virtually, and I had been taken aback by the women’s contribution to Tarnanthi 2020 and was excited by how the duo might like to extend upon the cyanotype works they had created for this significant exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Stuck behind Western Australia’s hard border, we met on Zoom, and Sonja, Leecee and I talked through possibilities for a new and ambitious commission. By the end of this first conversation (which might I add, was one of the most refreshing online meetings I had participated in throughout the course of the pandemic) we had collectively mapped out the beginnings of a significant new work that would occupy the main gallery at Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC), and which would represent the enduring knowledge and traditions of Salt Water First Nations People within the exhibition. DABIYIL BAJARA HANDLE WITH CARE WORDS: GLENN ISEGER-PILKINGTON EXHIBITION
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 63 EXHIBITION For those of you who haven’t visited FAC, our Gothic building traces back to 1860, and was built by convicts, opening as the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum and Invalid Depot in 1864. It is no surprise that the building has a challenging and painful history. Equally it was built on unceded Whadjuk Nyoongar boodjar (Country), and sits in close proximity to sites of cultural and historical significance for Whadjuk. It was built at a time of great upheaval and atrocity for First Peoples, and while the history imbued within the architecture of our building will always remain, the site is now a place of asylum and sanctuary for artists and visitors alike. This may feel like a digression, but I offer this information to give context to the building that would go onto hold Sonja's and Leecee’s work for the duration of Undertow. The commission that emerged from those early discussions, Dabiyil Bajara, 2021, which translates to water footprints, is a poetic reflection to the marks we make, and leave, if only for fleeting moments, upon and within vessels of water, and is arguably Sonja's and Elisa Jane’s most ambitious installation work to date. It is a physical manifestation of Ngugi Peoples’ enduring knowledge of, and relationship to, the lands and waters of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island, Queensland) and Mulgumpin (Moreton Island, Queensland). Dabiyil Bajara, 2021, was presented at the heart of Undertow, transforming FAC’s main gallery into an underwater chasm, enveloping and submerging visitors within a vessel of ancestral knowledge as if held in the ocean’s watery embrace. Dabiyil Bajara, 2021, comprised of six expansive cyanotype works on cotton and a selection of forms woven in the enduring traditions of Quandamooka women, offer a celebration of Quandamooka sea Country. The work is a document of care and concern, in equal parts. It speaks of holding Country close and of mutual reciprocity between momentary custodians and the Country they care for – it is a work made about and emerging from mothers and daughters, and more broadly it is a story of life and death. The work is a map, taking us on a journey of Quandamooka Country, above and below waterlines, from one side of Minjerribah to other, from places rich in sea life that have provided for custodians, to places of healing that have been visited by women since the beginning. The work also charts our destructive impact on oceans spaces, woven forms within the depths of each cyanotype created using retrieved fishing nets known as ghostnet act as quiet but poignant reminders of the global climate emergency that is evidenced within every ocean on the planet we share. Created during the last few weeks of Elisa Jane’s pregnancy and at the time of the passing of Sonja’s sister, Elisa Jane’s Aunty, Dabiyil Bajara is a meditation on the cycles of life, on ancestral knowledge and on the legacies of First Nations women, who continue to weave knowledge from the past into hopeful futures, with care, courage, and compassion. In a short film we commissioned for Undertow, Leecee speaks to the way in which she and Sonja employ their woven sculptural forms within their cyanotypes and beautifully states that the ‘weaves can leave their own marks and tell their own stories’. They leave a trace, or a shadow, a physical reminder of a moment ephemeral. This sentiment is a beautiful way to consider the power of artists, and the exhibitions animated by their work, leaving lasting marks on the lives of visitors and curators alike. Dabiyil Bajara (Water Footprints) premiered in Queensland at Tanks Art Centre for CIAF 2022.
Photographs (Pages 64-65): Michael Marzik, 2022. Courtesy of the artists and Onespace Gallery.
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 67 ZANE SAUNDERS STANDS UP From the tranquil paradise of the Wet Tropics in Tropical North Queensland, Butchulla, Gunggari and Jarrowia man, Zane Saunders, ponders lore and modern life. Saunders is a performance artist who explores concepts of the decimation of Australia’s natural landscape and disruption to the lives of First Peoples through colonisation. Saunders’ latest work Cure explores the changes to Indigenous identity, spiritual custom and lore, through the influence of organised religion. WORDS: JACK WILKIE-JANS After several years of exhibiting paintings and prints, Saunders made the pivot to performance art in 2004. Significant to his work, is machinery and large-scale installations, imbued within First Peoples’ experiences and emotive soundscapes. At the core of his work, Saunders’ narratives are a quest for enlightenment to our Old Peoples’ ways of a ‘Natural Created Order’. Understanding and practicing cultural ways can give so much back to the Natural Order. He believes such roots and ’guidelines’ can serve First Peoples and to an extent, all peoples. But it isn’t something Saunders feels can be done in isolation. Saunders urges First Peoples to converge and look to the cultural values we espouse to be the overarching means of governing our political and societal ways. Namely, to empower and embolden our negotiations with non-Indigenous constructs and institutions regarding land management, use and conservation. Believing that a focus on the spiritual—rather than the material—can ‘heal’. He believes we live in a world of ethical shortcomings and that ‘negative practices of capitalist hierarchy systems, prejudice and discriminatory doctrines disrupt our lives as First Peoples and cause the imbalance to our natural connection to Country’. PERFORMANCE
Zane Saunders performs Cure. Image courtesy of Zane Saunders'.
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 69 Saunders demonstrates his perspectives, not by overtly proselytising, but by showing audiences the messages he’s passionate about and which drive his spirit, with the grace of a dancer he guides the audience and they keenly follow, mesmerized by his delivery and large-scale installation. In 2016 Saunders was announced as a recipient of the coveted Australia Council for the Arts’ Pilot Signature Works Program; the project Spirit was born, followed by Cure which was programmed for the Cairns Indigenous (CIAF) 2020. With COVID-19 rife across the globe at the time, the Art Fair pivoted to an online delivery, meaning that audiences were unable to experience Cure live. However, the performance was recorded and featured on the CIAF website for the duration of the 2020 online fair. Cure returned to CIAF in 2022—this time held at the Cairns Performing Arts Centre. Cure, with Saunders’ unique and deliberately meaningful choreography, is a visual and moving display of him and two interloping, concentric structures representing the Right Rainbow and the Wrong Rainbow; respectively delineating the impasse of pre-colonial ‘Natural Created Order’ and its corruption, since colonisation. Coupled with compositions by Cameron Deyell, along with Saunders’ unique costuming and contemporary interpretations of body painting, Cure seeks to suggest an optional course of antidote to the existing problems in the world, through creating an alternative lens in exposing issues that remain and stem from mismanagement of world natural flora and fauna environments. Not recognising and reinstating world indigenous cultural and spiritual practices, complimentary to the longevity of all environments. Speaking on his seminal piece, Saunders says, ‘there should be concern when we deny ancestral cultural and spiritual practices that protect and conserve all living species. When we do, it aids the view of a dominant monotheist’s culture, monotypic reality that continues to discriminate openly against the longevity and sustenance of Earth rich cultural and spiritual environments balanced and fulfilling’. Adding that, ‘Cure is about faith. Embracing world indigenous contextualised cultures and spiritual practices, to align our ethical and moral compass, to benefit world flora and fauna environments. Cure portrays a narrative of dualism. One of unceasing tragedy, the other of contextual relevance emanating legacies eternal and expansive of values aligned to the continual preservation of Earth’. At a time when climate and micro-climates across the globe are changing rapidly, caused through industrialisation and subsequent pollution, Zane Saunders’ message in his performance art and image-making are more pertinent than ever. His voice is made stronger due to his affinity with his spiritual self, his traditional ways and, of course, his backyard; being one of the oldest rainforests on Earth, under threat of Climate Change. To learn more about Zane Saunders and his work Cure from the Spirit body of work, go to zanesaunders.com Cure seeks to suggest an optional course of antidote to the existing problems in the world, through creating an alternative lens in exposing issues that remain and stem from mismanagement of world natural flora and fauna environments. PERFORMANCE
Photograph by Kerry Trapnell, 2017.
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 71 CULTURAL DANCE SPIRITUAL FABRIC INTERVIEW So, Will, what does cultural dance mean to you? Well it’s about keeping our stories alive. When I dance our cultural dance it basically gives me freedom, but also the spirit of being in our culture, it gives us the freedom to connect with our spiritual side. Over the years I’ve come to the realisation that the physical body is very separate to the spiritual body and it’s the marriage of, the interconnection of those two that allows us to express ourselves through dance. The voice is a very important part of my spiritual being even though it is seen as a physical aspect. When we sing in cultural dance it comes from the inside. I’m a very big believer in the vibe and the vibrations, we take on the ‘old’ stories, the ‘old’ songs. We chant, electrifying our insides—that makes movement. It’s a combination of the body moving out of the vibration of the chant, it’s a physical story about our connection to Country. How important is the voice in the dance process? The voice is very important; again as part of my spiritual being, the physical aspect as you know for me is the body, but when we speak it comes from inside us. And you know that for me is culture—where it’s On Country, when you have that connection to Mother Nature everything is true energy as the spiritual side is connected to vibration energy, whether it’s singing or chant, it’s all giving vibration to each other physically but spiritually as well and everyone responds. And you know you’re giving back to Mother Nature. What about contemporary dance, cultural dance and whether to mix? In my experience I’ve found a lot of what I experience as cultural dance could be translated as contemporary dance to a certain extent? Yeah, for me I think it’s like milk—you can make milk into cheese but it still has the base of being milk. I sort of see the sacredness Acclaimed Kanju Wik and Meriam Mer contemporary choreographer, Raymond D. Blanco, yarns with Nughi and Kaanjtju cultural dancer, William Tranby Enoch, about the importance of cultural dancing.
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 73 of our culture in nurturing as well. And that’s where we can give them that milk yet we transform it into contemporary. But it’s up to us—as a collective—as people of our tribes to keep the solid cultural foundation there. A lot of [First Nations] peoples in cities and towns, I hear say, 'I want to go home when I get back on Country'; what’s the difference between being on Country and being on Homelands? For me you know and I’m living here in Cairns which is known as Gimuy, a place that I’m connected to through my mother. When I’m in the city it does not feel like home. But when I’m out of the city but still on Gimuy Country you feel connected. You know your ancestors lived a spiritual life on their homeland. Homeland opens up your consciousness a bit more—you know the country and how it is connected and its Spirit is still there. You’re deeply rooted in an advocacy role for cultural dance in the tourism space. How do we maintain our spiritual connectedness within this industry that seems hellbent on using our culture for their own economic benefit? In terms of cultural dancing and tourism, it’s about advocating for our knowledge, our culture and our intellectual property which is an extension of our connection to Country. These things can be valued through our work by bringing in award wages. There are no regulations, no union or award that covers us as cultural dancers in the tourism space. I remember and it wasn’t that long ago when tourism places would engage cultural dancers from other regions which smacks of ignorance. I’ve found that I had to advocate to ensure that the cultural dancers they were engaging had connection to that Country. This is a horrible situation as it’s not their fault, they need to work too. Then there’s the price point. What’s the appropriate price for cultural dance performance? When there’s no regulation that’s when our people can be exploited. I believe at the very least we need guidelines and protocols in place for the tourism industry to follow. We need an opportunity to come together as dancers and cultural practitioners and workshop this regulation concept. As First Peoples we express ourselves in all different mediums in terms of art. Cultural dancing is part of our spiritual fabric that has been around since time immemorial. Now that must mean something. And the only way I see us honouring this is by having some model in place that regulates it in tourism. It should be left up to us as to how we create a model, how we advocate, and how we get it legislated. We run our own businesses in the cultural dance space so for me an award wage whether for an individual or group, is integral. But we, as cultural custodians, need to set the guidelines that protect our intellectual property, our knowledge. I know it’s not easy working in dance. Why do you do it? You know, coming from a cultural place, it’s my birthright. We need to protect our birthright and all the responsibilities that go with it. That’s who we are—it’s our lore and law—and it’s sacred. INTERVIEW
MOA ARTS STUDIO Armour, Babetha Mawia, 2022, Monoprint, Moa Arts Feathers are used for headdress in my culture. We imitate our young warrior's and gods of the islands who wore feathers as an armour - Babetha Nawia.
WWW.CIAF.COM.AU 75 Innovation and improvisation are hallmarks of Melanesian culture and the work coming out of Moa Arts studio over the last few years is a demonstration of that. It can be seen in the printmaking processes themselves, right down to the minaral, the design elements that are unique to Zenadth Kes. Originating in ancient turtle shell and wood carving techniques, minaral are the building blocks of visual storytelling, like dots are to central desert painting. There have been many important moments of innovation in the printmaking tradition of Zenadth Kes. Like the adoption of kaideral by artists like David Bosun, Solomon Booth and Billy Missi, some of the pioneers of the movement. Kaideral is the language name given to the technique of applying stippled areas of colour to the lino plate prior to printing. It translates as ‘the shimmering effect of light on the water’ and it is a technical device still practiced by many artists today. Right now, the pochoir and collagraph prints coming out of Moa Arts are making another big contribution to the development of the visual language of the region. Pochoir (or stencil printing) allows for larger, more colourful prints that are free of some of the technical constraints of lino printing and etching. Collagraphs involve applying materials like fabric, bark and leaves directly to the print plate, so the resulting images pick up the natural, textured surfaces and transfer them onto the paper. As a result, the prints are freer, looser. It has also seen production and output move from editions to series with each print being completely unique. One constant factor is the minaral. Paula Savage’s prints for instance, focus on the elements of traditional life; fishing, gathering shellfish, cooking and feasting, and as her fish bones and crab shells pile up on the paper, they seem to suggest the marks you would find in traditional minaral carving. Fiona Elisala Mosby’s works are eddies of colour and form, combined with traditional mark making. She will often take small, individual units of minaral and enlarge them, shifting them from ‘in-fill’ effects to the subject matter of the print itself. Culture, language and tradition are always front and centre for her. Solomon Booth’s light, lyrical jellyfish prints bring visual complexity to the image, but they do it in very subtle ways, in tandem with political and environmental messaging about the need to care for our oceans. Minaral elements are either applied directly to the large negative and positive spaces, or they emerge spontaneously, reminding us that history and culture are everywhere, always. The works they have produced in the last few years are not just exciting visual developments, they show us how culture is both stable and changing at the same time. It is the bedrock that everyone lives upon, but it is also fluid and changeable. The artists at Moa Arts work hard to develop unique voices and perspectives, while at the same time keeping culture alive, changeable, and dynamic. MINARAL INNOVATION WORDS: ADAM BOYD MOA ARTS CENTRE
BERNARD SINGLETON Bernard Singleton is an Umpila, Djabugay/Yirrgay man raised in Cape York Peninsula. He maintains strong cultural connections to his country of Cairns where he is based. He specialises in crafting traditional hunting weapons tools and objects, which are heavily based on his experiences around cultural heritage. 'I craft and make artefacts to ground myself. It is known that these techniques, used over hundreds of years, become somewhat embedded in our DNA. My work is a way for me to acknowledge and remember the times of my great grandmothers and great grandfathers. My designs are inspired by nature and its many forms within the materials I use. These basic forms I incorporate into each piece to represent the bond of art and the continuation of culture.' DYLAN MOONEY Dylan Mooney is a proud Yuwi, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander man from Mackay in North Queensland working across painting, printmaking, digital illustration and drawing. Influenced by history, culture and family, Mooney responds to community stories, current affairs and social media. Armed with a rich cultural upbringing, Mooney now translates the knowledge and stories passed down to him, through art. Legally blind, the digital medium’s backlit display allows the artist to produce a highimpact illustrative style with bright, saturated colour that reflects his experiences with keen political energy and insight. This blending of digital technology and social commentary is a uniting of the artist’s sense of optimism – pride within the works exude with profoundness and substance. Dylan is among artists who are rethinking digital technologies and artistic practices to consider contemporary issues around identity, desire and representation. Interested in the ways we can reframe the conversation around the voices that have been left out, the Dylan’s important body of work embodies a shift in representation of queer love among people of colour. MIA BOE Mia Boe is a painter from Brisbane, with Butchulla and Burmese ancestry. The inheritance and 'disinheritance' of both of these cultures focus her work. Mia's paintings respond, sometimes obliquely, to Empire’s deliberate, violent interferences with the cultural heritages of Burma and K’gari (Fraser Island). Image supplied. Courtesy Bernard Singleton Image supplied. Courtesy Mia Boe Image supplied. Courtesy Dylan Mooney
UP NEXT DYLAN SARRA Dylan Sarra is a Taribelang / Goorang Goorang artist from the Bundaberg region and currently lives in Brisbane, Australia. With a focus on exploring identity and place, Sarra uses a range of disciplines such as print, digital works and sculpture to gently persuade an audience into humanising the Indigenous experience prior to colonisation. He is involved in research and development of cultural knowledge and practice, that in turn can be shared with the wider community from where these stories take place. It is his aim that all people can not only be intrigued by indigenous culture, but that they can also start to question the real history of colonisation and the impacts it has down to this day. SONYA CREEK Sonya Creek has lived in Wujal Wujal for 16 years. An emerging artist with the Bana Yirriji Art Centre for the past five years, she belongs to the Kuku Nyungkul language group. Her grandfather, Alec Creek is a Kaantju man from Coen and grandmother is KuKu Nyungkul from Shipton Flat. Sonya has participated in many group exhibitions over the years including most recently the Endeavour Voyage: The Untold Stories of Cook and the First Australians, that is exhibited at the National Museum of Australia collection. Sonya regularly participates in the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair and Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. Sonya loves creating art and is encouraged by her family. Sonya works across a variety of mediums including acrylic on canvas, silk batik, screen-printing and jewelry. Sonya's paintings depict her Grandmother’s stories about hunting Magpie Geese in the wet season. They would walk all the way to Kings Plains Lagoon, where there were many of them near swamps. Her grandfather would wear the feathers of the Kurranji (cassowary) for decoration when doing ceremonial dances. Keep an eye out for these exciting new artists Image supplied. Courtesy Sonya Creek Image supplied. Courtesy Dylan Sara
KYRA MANCKTELOW Kyra Mancktelow’s multidisciplinary practice investigates legacies of colonialism, posing important questions such as how we remember and acknowledge Indigenous histories. A Quandamooka artist with links to the Mardigan people of Cunnamulla, Kyra’s practice includes printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture – each applying a unique and distinct aesthetic. Kyra works with various materials to share her rich heritage, stories, and traditions to educate audiences and strengthen her connection to Country. Her printmaking explores intergenerational trauma as a result of forced integration on colonial missions, and her use of local materials in her sculpture, including clay, emu features, and Talwalpin (cotton tree), strengthens her connection to Country. A recent graduate from Queensland College of Art’s Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art program, Kyra won the 2021 Telstra Emerging Artist Award at The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, and a Special Commendation at the 2021 Churchie National Emerging Art Prize. THEA ANAMARA PERKINS Thea Anamara Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon artist whose practice incorporates portraiture and landscape to depict authentic representations of First Nations peoples and Country. With a delicate hand, Thea answers heavy questions about what it means to be Indigenous in contemporary Australia, and how Aboriginal people can and should be portrayed. Thea’s Arrernte name Anamara describes a river and a Dreaming that runs north of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) – the place that keeps calling her back and has been the wellspring of art and activism for her family, and by extension, the nation. Perkins is part of an extraordinary dynasty of First Nations activists and creatives and continues her family’s commitment to what she calls 'strong and ready communication'. Perkins routinely delves into her family’s photographic archive for source material, attracted by the hyper-saturated, almost cinematic, glow of old photos, and the melancholia that comes with seeing a moment in time you can no longer access. She is most drawn to snapshots that evoke feelings of comfort and certainty – smiling faces, happy memories. The glimmer, she calls it. Her compositions hone in on this by removing the background noise, reducing the photo to its very essence – a gesture, a colour, or an evocation of place. Image supplied. Courtesy Kyra Mancktelow Image supplied. Courtesy Thea Anamara Perkins OPPOSITE PAGE: Im Milli & Yunga, 2022, Sonya Creek, Acrylic on Canvas. Photograph by Michael Marzik.