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Cultural Connections: Research Trip to Brisbane Collections

Projects

Cultural Connections is a project partnership between IACA and the National Museum of Australia (NMA). The Cultural Connections Program is partnering with local land councils, shires, and arts and cultural organisations to support community-led projects that strengthen local cultural practices and knowledge transmission.

With the aim of enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural practitioners and communities to develop and/or share their cultural knowledge, histories and stories in a way that is meaningful to them, the Cultural Connections program is supporting the development and delivery of a women’s weaving cultural maintenance camp at Hopevale.

Many of IACA’s member artists feel that traditional weaving skills from their region are being lost. The weaving camp will facilitate intergenerational knowledge exchange of these critical skills. They will also generate high-quality documentation that will create an important cultural archive for future generations.

In preparation for the camp, six artists and artsworkers from Hopevale Arts & Culture Centre and Bana Yirriji Art Centre (Betty Sykes, Anne Nunn, Sonya Creek, Hannah Gibson, Delankah Ross-Hart & Kian Bowen) travelled to Brisbane for some firsthand research into fibre artworks in the museum and gallery collections.

“The trip we went down to Brisbane was really exciting for us. I felt proud to see the family’s material, it made me happy and proud to see it there and a bit sad, you know, for the past and present.” Betty Sykes (Bana Yirriji Art Centre)

Special thanks to Avril Quail at the Queensland Museum for the behind-the-scenes look into the collection, Katina Davidson and Sophia Sambono for their enthusiastic welcome and personalised tour of the exhibitions at the Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art and the friendly staff at the State Library of Queensland. Everyone left Brisbane hugely inspired and enthusiastic for the upcoming weaving camp in Hopevale at the end of May. Stay tuned for the outcome…

The Cultural Connections funding has provided IACA with the capacity to offer cultural maintenance camps for our members to revive traditional practices in weaving that have almost been lost. The legacy from these programs is a wonderful contribution to maintaining the cultural practices of Indigenous people from the Far North Queensland region.

Pam Bigelow Manager, IACA

Main image credit: Sonya Creek, Anne Nunn and Betty Sykes inspecting items from the Queensland Museum collection.

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Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Queensland Government Indigenous Art Code Creative Australia Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR).

IACA gratefully acknowledges, the Australian Government’s Office for the Arts, Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program, the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Backing Indigenous Arts initiative, Creative Australia and the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) for their invaluable financial assistance and ongoing support. IACA is a proud supporter member of the Indigenous Art Code.

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Make a Difference. Support IACA's Capacity Building Programs. Across Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait, more than 400 Indigenous artists are creating, working, and sustaining culture through their community art centres. When you give to IACA, you stand with these artists — and with the art centres that sustain them. These are places where culture is lived and shared, where knowledge flows between generations, and where livelihoods are built on Country. Thriving art centres mean thriving communities. They are hubs of cultural strength, economic opportunity, and community connection. Your donation supports IACA’s work alongside its member art centres through co-designed programs that build real skills and create genuine employment pathways for First Nations artworkers. Your gift helps fund: • Training programs developed with and for art centres • Creative fellowships for artists • Travel for artworkers to access training and mentorship • Learning resources, expertise, and tools that strengthen capacity across the network IACA partners with community-led art centres where artists and their communities are shaping their own futures — culturally, socially, and economically. Your support makes this possible. Indigenous Art Centre Alliance Inc. is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

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