Photogallery: CIAF 2023 wraps up after transformative cultural celebration
INDIGENOUS SHOWCASE
Staff Writers
The 14th edition of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) concluded on Sunday, marking the event's most significant cultural immersion to date. Drawing crowds from near and far, the four-day festival offered over 50 captivating events, with some remarkable highlights stealing the spotlight.
One of the standout performances were the two sell- out fashion performances of Woven
at Tanks Art Centre, featuring 14 designer collections and 17 models.
Delvene Cockatoo-Collins, the talented Quandamooka artist and designer, presented her collection for the second consecutive year.
Ms Cockatoo-Collins’s garments wove together a tapestry of her family's generational art and culture, showcasing the legacy from her great grandmother's woven basket to her mother's mat making.
Another captivating attraction was the Coconut Leaf Project, which featured seven large-scale installations handwoven by six master weavers from the Torres Strait Islands. Coming together in Cairns, these artisans breathed new life into a dying art form.
CIAF Artistic Director, Francoise Lane, expressed her pride in the event's success, highlighting the growing appetite for immersive First Nations arts and culture experiences.
“I feel completely humbled to have worked with the team and so many wonderful artists and practitioners to deliver my first CIAF in the role of Artistic Director,” she said.
“I am proud that together we lifted artistic and public programming to a new and unprecedented level and while capturing the attention and imaginations of visitors, we have provided a truly authentic and meaningful experience.
“CIAF is such a powerful platform for storytelling, truth-telling, knowledge sharing and an inclusive meeting place for cultural exchange of two very distinct and diverse cultures – past, present, and future.”
Find below a photo gallery of the four-day festival: