Cairns exhibition the launchpad for Yalanji to take on the world
Indigenous Art
Yalanji Arts is preparing this week for a game-changing few months, starting with the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair from Thursday and culminating in an October invitation to the World Expo in Japan.
Along the way around those two high points, a new clothing range will soon hit the shelves, three artists have been shortlisted at the National Indigenous Fashion Awards in Darwin, and the Mossman-based art collective will be displaying at a major Indigenous exhibition in Adelaide.
Yalanji manager Sabine Hoeng has been flat out commuting between Mossman, Port Dougas and Cairns this week for Thursday’s CIAF opening.
“Yalanji Arts is going to have a 26m exhibition at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and we’re showing new ceramics and new prints on paper with 10 artists,” Ms Hoeng said.
“We’re very excited.
“We’ve got lots of works in there, high quality works.”
As well as taking part in the main exhibition - themed “Pay Attention!” - at Tanks Arts Centre from Thursday, July 10, to Sunday, July 13, Yalanji will run a market stall at The Artisan Showcase throughout CIAF.
Hot on the heels of this event, Yalanji’s new clothing range will be released, and then the show will hit the road, with visits to the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair from August 7-10, then Tarnanthi Art Fair in Adelaide on October 17-18 and the Osaka World Expo in Japan.
Yalanji’s Gregory Salt, Karen Shuan and Laurence Gibson are all in the running for the Textile Design Award category at the Darwin event.
Ms Hoeng said these were exciting times for Yalanji, especially if one of the textile artists can snare a national award.
“It’s a big thing.”
The CIAF Art Fair Showcase is on at Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns, from Thursday, July 10, to Sunday, July 13. Details: https://ciaf.com.au/cairns-indigenous-art-fair-ciaf
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