Renowned Waiben (Thursday Island) artist, Brian Robinson has been chosen to bring his visionary concept to life in the form of a distinctive public art piece for the upcoming theater at the Queensland Cultural Centre.
The selected work, known as "Floriate", showcases a fusion of Queensland's natural flora and its deep-rooted link to Indigenous communities.
The new 1500 capacity theatre will increase the footprint of Queensland Performing Arts Centre, to create the largest performing arts centre in Australia, with five outstanding venues.
Standing approximately four meters tall, the bronze sculpture will find its place in the theater's outer entry forecourt.
The sculpture showcases blossoming plants and a gracefully elongated ribbon-like structure, symbolising the vital river systems connecting South Brisbane across regions like the South East, Wallum, Central, Wet Tropics, Murray-Darling, Lake Eyre and Bulloo, as well as Western Cape and Gulf.
Mr. Robinson's intricate design pays tribute to Indigenous histories, thoughtfully integrating native flowers that have served as medicinal resources, adornments, nourishment and even tools for Aboriginal people.
The sculpture's intricate surface patterns unveil ancestral stories influenced by mythology, the environment, and the celestial realm above the Torres Strait.
"I am extremely humbled to have been selected for such an amazing opportunity," Mr Robinson said.
"Floriate represents Queensland's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that have evolved and developed out of their relationship and balance with the land, the sea (or water) and the sky including their intimate knowledge of these environments, which has provided them with water, food, shelter, and medicine.
"Positioned at the entrance to the new theatre, it will welcome each and every one into this space where dance, theatre, visual arts and storytelling intertwine and cascade across the stage."
Queensland Minister for the Arts, Hon Leeanne Enoch MP, said "Brian Robinson's stunning sculpture Floriate tells a story that connects the beauty of Queensland's natural environment with First Nations culture and knowledge of Country."
"Floriate will be a striking artwork to welcome audiences to the new theatre in a place that has been the location of ceremony and storytelling for thousands of years."
The Public Artwork First Nations Selection Panel, an independent group overseeing the project, commended the concept design for its adept interweaving of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander narratives.
They noted, "With its cultural layering from the use of significant flowers to the stories built within the patternmaking, the design pays homage to how the story has been gently but strikingly woven together."
Brian Robinson's journey to this accomplishment involved a shortlisting process conducted by the selection panel.
Alongside artist Megan Cope, Robinson was selected from a pool of candidates following an Expression of Interest (EOI) initiative aimed at engaging Indigenous artists with a profound cultural connection to Queensland.
The shortlisted artists collaborated with First Nations design consultant Blaklash Creative and public art specialists UAP to bring their respective concept designs to life.
