Pormpuraaw: four art fairs, four months, four states

Attending art fairs across Australia sets the foundation of Pormpuraaw Art Centre’s core marketing activity and commercial gallery exhibitions. This year, from July to October, artists from Pormpuraaw Art Centre travelled to and participated in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF), Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF), Sydney Contemporary and Tarnanthi.

The art fair season is held within a tight window of 12 weeks over the dry season. It kicks off with CIAF in July, where this year Pormpuraaw ran a ghost net weaving activity with two of its artists and many volunteers creating a beautiful sea turtle. It was a great opportunity for Pormpuraaw to reinforce its important role in the larger Far North Queensland community.

Next, one of the biggest Indigenous art fairs in Australia, DAAF, opened in the NT. With 74 art centers attending, it was truly amazing to be part of such a large gathering of artists and their works, spectacularly showcased in one place.

Following a month later, Pormpuraaw was invited to the Sydney Contemporary to be a part of the Inkmasters and Theo Tremblay display which formed part of the Paper Contemporary. With many national and international galleries and a great number of visitors attending, Sydney Contemporary provides exceptional opportunities for Far North Queensland art centres, and Pormpuraaw has committed to return with Inkmasters next year, perhaps even investing in a bigger stall.

The final art fair for the year was Tarnanthi, Adelaide. This was Pormpuraaw’s fourth year of attendance at Tarnanthi and of the over 40 who participated, it was the only art centre from Queensland. This year, Pormpuraaw was part of a collaborative language program run by linguist Louise Ashmore. Tarnanthi is very generous with their support of Pormpuraaw and each year the Centre sees many repeat customers who visit and purchase works each year.