The Cairns Indigenous Arts Festival has released its 2024 theme following a record-breaking 2023 event.
Next year will see Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) celebrate its 15th anniversary with the chosen theme, 'Country Speaking', providing an opportunity for Country to be heard, insights into what Country is and how it speaks to its custodians.
CIAF's Artistic Director, Francoise Lane, said the concept of Country as used by First Nations people embodies 65,000 years of deep connection to the land, waters, skies and seas within their nation and clans.
"Country encompasses First Nations people's spiritual, physical, emotional and mental relationship to it; inclusive of the living and breathing landscapes and the animals nourished by it," Ms Lane said.
"Since time immemorial, First Nation Peoples have lived in close relationship with Country. Country speaks, always. The question is, are we listening?"
The launch of the 2024 theme comes after a newly-released and independent research report this year's 14th instalment of the event, which was held in June.
The report gave top marks to Queensland's pinnacle Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultural celebration.
Australia's leading market research company specialising in event, sporting and tourism industries found CIAF's 2023 festival delivered the Cairns and Far North region a significant boost to the economy, community pride and visitor appeal.
Ms Lane said the event's ability to score highly on economic and social barometers is something the organisation is aware of and that they will make sure to take special care when programming to ensure artists and ect are well accommodated.
"This year, for the first time, we integrated public programming and offered a series of dance, weaving and printmaking master classes, all fully subscribed or sold out," she said.
"This proves that visitors to CIAF are no longer satisfied with a passive experience and actively seek a deeper and more meaningful transaction, be it skill or knowledge sharing."
When assessing community pride, IER's research report shows CIAF rating high to very high on all indicators, with the highest level of agreement of 96 per cent accorded to feelings of local pride and Cairns' destinational appeal.
"While CIAF does mean different things to different people, it is the way it brings everyone together to celebrate culture and identity that makes us feel proud and good about what we do," Ms Lane said.
According to Ms Lane, for artists and communities in the remote Cape York and Torres Strait Islands region, CIAF is an important annual event that people look forward to and work towards.
"CIAF is their opportunity to shine, to make new connections, to sell work and feel empowered," she said.
This year saw CIAF generated an attendance of 50,500, attracting 27,180 individuals who participated in one of some 50 programmed events across the four days.
Regarding income, the attendance translated to a direct and incremental expenditure of $7,598,203 benefitting the local Cairns economy and a further $3,411,401 to the greater Queensland economy.
CIAF was also responsible for generating 27,230 visitor nights and a spend of $7,382,710 by overnight visitors.
The art fair displayed more than 500 artworks across 14 art centres 58 market stalls and nine independent galleries and artists.
Many notable sales were reported across the event, including the purchase of Toby Cedar's Nar (canoe) by Cairns Airport.
Acquisitions also included Cairns artist Susan Rey's hand-painted piano by QPAC, Brisbane and the Sydney Powerhouse Museum's acquisition of Townsville artist Gail Mabo's mixed media wall installations.
Ms Lane said among the events in this year's program, there are many memorable highlights including two sellout shows for the decade anniversary of CIAF's much-loved fashion performance, which featured 17 models and 14 of Queensland's Indigenous designers.
"What we have here in Queensland is so distinct from other states and territories because, in terms of diversity, we span Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures," Ms Lane said.
"With so much new and exciting work, the Art Fair was one of the best, and with many exhibitors selling every piece of artwork – well, you cannot argue with that."
CIAF 2024 will be held between from 25 to 28 July, 2024.
