Cairns Indigenous Art Fair

CIAF Conversations Mermaid ‘ZELOH’ by Aurukun women artists

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Yarrabah.

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Wei'num Arts

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Wujal Wujal

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Pormpuraaw

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile The Burning of Mapoon.

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Bamaga

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Seisia & New Mapoon

CIAF Symposium Teho Ropeyarn.

Community Spotlight & Artists Profile Lockhart River

CIAF Symposium Tony Albert and Freja Carmichael

CIAF Weaving Workshop Rion Savage.

CIAF Conversations Where's Your Permit

CIAF Conversations Curators in Conversation with Jack Wilkie-Jans.

CIAF Symposium Djabugay Art Centre

CIAF Symposium Amanda Hayman and Troy Casey (Magpie Goose)

Hear from Jabaan King of Yarrabah - Vincent Schrieber, Traditional Owner – Nathan Schrieber, Yarrabah Mayor – Ross Andrews and cultural advisor - Alfred Gray about cultural education, language and community in Yarrabah.

Aaron Fa’Aoso joins Shatner Patterson on his Country at Yarrabah for a yarn about his cultural practice of spear-making and knowledge of Country.

Join Aaron Fa’Aoso as he yarns with Merindi and Linton Schrieber on Cooya Beach, 75 kilometres North of Cairns, on Kuku Yalanji Country.

Join Aaron Fa’Aoso as he yarns with Garth Murgha and Estelle Tranby about their artistic process and the inspiration that maintains their cultural practice.

Take a virtual trip north of the Daintree to Wujal Wujal country, at the mouth of the Bloomfield River, to see the deadly Dalkan Band perform their songs on Country.

Join Kuku Yalanji artist Merindi Schrieber, as she shares her Yalanji weaving techniques that that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Join the artists of the Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre, located on the West of Cape York, as they generously share their art, culture and stories.

Join community videographer Nelson Conboy as he presents a music performance by Tamara Gibson, Harold Bowen & Band.

CIAF, Torres Strait Regional Authority and Gab Titui Cultural Centre have collaborated to produce a series of insightful presentations from Torres Strait Islander artists and communities. Experience the vibrancy and complexities of Torres Strait Islander culture through their distinct cultural knowledge, stories, music, dance, cooking and art.

CIAF, Torres Strait Regional Authority and Gab Titui Cultural Centre have collaborated to produce a series of insightful presentations from Torres Strait Islander artists and communities. Experience the vibrancy and complexities of Torres Strait Islander culture through their distinct cultural knowledge, stories, music, dance, cooking and art.

See Hope Vale collection "Guulil" as part of the CIAF 2020 Fashion Showcase : "Water is Sacred".

Where Country is the catwalk, these inspired collections respond to the theme of 'Water is Sacred'.

Flipping the Fashion status quo, we move from the built environment to the natural environs of the reef and rainforest. Exploring sustainable fashion, wearable art/design and a fusion of contemporary movement & Cultural Dance, whilst delivering a Climate Change message.

See the Bana Bulmba collection by designer Nicole Chatfield as part of CIAF2020 Fashion Showcase - "Water is Sacred".

See designs from the artists at Bana Yirriji Art and Cultural Centre as part of the CIAF 2020 Fashion Showcase: "Water is Sacred".

See the the collection Ailan Style by Eunice Hosea as part of the CIAF 2020 Fashion Showcase: "Water is Sacred".

See the fashion collection: Shimmer by Simone Arnol & Djunngaal Elders as part of the CIAF 2020 Fashion Showcase: "Water is Sacred".

See the fashion collection: Ghost Net Totems by Pormpuraaw Arts & Cultural Centre as part of the CIAF 2020 Fashion Showcase: "Water is Sacred".

See the fashion collection: Sown in Time by Lynelle Flinders as part of CIAF 2020 Fashion Showcase: "Water is Sacred".

We wish to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers that this website may contain images and voices of people who are deceased.

Aaron Fa’Aoso yarns with Noel Zaro from Torres Strait Islander cultural dance group Gerib Sik, and later shares their Meriam stories, songs and dance.

Shining a spotlight on the community and culture of the Torres Strait Islands.

Harry Nona-Artist profile.
Screening printing Demonstration.

Spell-binding sounds of guitar, voice, harp and percussion shot at the much-loved Tanks Arts Centre.

Merindi’s creative song compositions celebrate her Kuku Yalanji (Mossman, North Queensland) roots. Embracing traditional language in performance, Merindi expresses stories from her mother’s land, activating an easy-listening, up-beat timbre, weaving a soulful, uniquely crafted Bama resonance.

Natalia Lagi’itaua Mann is a harpist, composer and resonance artist. Internationally respected for her unique creative approach, she works at the intersection of free improvisation, classical music, indigenous culture and contemporary art. Her projects are deeply collaborative explorations of the present moment and environment.

We wish to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers that this website may contain images and voices of people who are deceased.

Special concert by Zennith for CIAF 2020 - The Cultural Evolution. Originating from the tropical rainforest of Kuranda, Zennith have been dubbed a creative force, producing high-energy rocking reggae rhythms and rhymes, embracing their diverse solid mix of roots, reggae, rock, funk, hip-hop and indigenous world music.

We wish to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers that this website may contain images and voices of people who are deceased.

Sneak peak of the 2019 Fashion Performance

BUWAL-BARRA… MESSENGER. YESTERDAY. TODAY. TOMORROW

CIAF's Annual Fashion Performance

Celebrate Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture through an extraordinary presentation of art, fashion, dance, music and performance.

Based on the journey of a story or voice being carried and delivered, the Fashion Performance showcases wearable art and elaborate adornment created by Indigenous designers from across Queensland. This performance is jointly curated by Craftsman, Bernard Singleton, Sustainable Fashion Designer Simone Arnol and choreographed by Professional Dancer Hans Ahwang.

Tickets for this event are in high demand so be sure to secure your tickets quickly!

Interview with Patrick Mau from Mau Power.

The power of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Far North Queensland entwined in a legacy of traditional language and song, sung in Gunggandji, Yidinji, Yalanji, Guugu Yimithirr, Meriam Mir and Kulkalgal Ya.

Audiences will be culturally immersed in traditional forms of singing rarely heard outside the community environment, performed in the soaring acoustic setting of the new Cairns Performing Arts Centre.

This ground breaking stage production is creatively produced by three Choir Directors, to develop a repertoire that has both cultural, historical and contemporary significance. Resulting in the reimagining of songs, sung in language, to reveal that Far North Queensland's First Peoples' culture is seamless, as it continues to adapt and evolve.

Interview with National Maritime Museum Indigenous Programs Manager, Beau James. Beau is from the Mununjali clan of the Yugambeh Nation from SE Queensland with links to Stradbroke Island. Beau was a judge for the CIAF 2018 Art Awards. In this interview Beau shares what he is looking for in artwork to purchase at CIAF 2018.

Pride in Authority was major highlight of CIAF’s program of satellite exhibitions in 2018. Stemming from a collaboration between CIAF and three remote Aboriginal communities: Aurukun, Pormpuraaw and Bentinck and Mornington Islands.

To maintain language and culture for the next generation, a series of artistic workshops and cultural sharing activities were facilitated by Elders. The project inspired young people and emerging artists to create work that is appropriate, reflective and celebratory.

Pride in Authority is based on the diverse and complex systems of connection to country through paintings, sculpture, language and storytelling.

Here is a snapshot of what CIAF 2018 looked like, a rich showcase of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Showcasing 1O Indigenous designers from across the state and features wearable art and design inspired by the vibrancy of Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

CIAF Opening Night is an evening of celebration and culture where guests, exhibitors, artists and Elders come together to launch CIAF 2O18. Along with the Art Awards presentation, the evening’s entertainment with Electric Fields, the traditional Yidinji dancers, Seisia Kayin Thithuyil dance group and a special performance by Miriki with the Northern Pomo tribe from Northern California, take place on the outdoor stage in the beautiful surrounds of Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal.

CIAF 2018 Art Fair

As a platform for Queensland’s Indigenous arts and culture, CIAF not only presents a celebration and ethical marketplace for collectors, but also helps educate and inform visitors about the unique differences in art practice.

Queensland’s Indigenous art is quite distinct from that found in other regions of Australia – inspired by and largely reflective of Queensland’s reef and rainforest environment.

As a platform for Queensland’s Indigenous arts and culture, CIAF not only presents a celebration and ethical marketplace for collectors, but also helps educate and inform visitors about the unique differences in art practice.

Queensland’s Indigenous art is quite distinct from that found in other regions of Australia – inspired by and largely reflective of Queensland’s reef and rainforest environment.