North Queensland's contemporary arts festival, Pop Up North Queensland (PUNQ), returns in 2024 with a program featuring local, national, and international artists engaging with the region's spaces, histories and futures.
Running from 1-18 August 2024, the biennial festival spans Gurambilbarra (Townsville), Yunbenun (Magnetic Island), Warrgamay, Nywaigi (Bandjin Country) Hinchinbrook, and Gudjal Country (Charters Towers).
This year's program includes dynamic works, live events, and innovative performances celebrating the region's landscapes, supporting cultural exchange and providing unique experiences for all.
Queensland Minister for the Arts, Quandamooka woman Leeanne Enoch, said PUNQ 2024 offers a unique opportunity to experience North Queensland's stunning landscapes, vibrant cultures and compelling stories through contemporary arts.
"PUNQ 2024 will invite people to connect with this remarkable region through thought- provoking works that reflect and help define our state's cultural identity," she said.
"The Queensland Government is proud to support PUNQ 2024, which helps deliver on our Creative Together strategy and its priorities to activate Queensland places and spaces, elevate First Nations arts, share our stories and celebrate our storytellers."
PUNQ's program is focused on amplifying the Indigenous voices of North Queensland.
Manbarra Traditional Owner and community leader Vicki Saylor and award-winning photographer and videographer Pippa Samaya present Waymaker, a billboard exhibition showcasing portraits of Indigenous Elders and their stories along regional highways.
Gail Mabo, an internationally recognised Meriam artist and daughter of Eddie Koiki Mabo, unveils a new public artwork highlighting the history of South Sea Islander indentured labour in North Queensland.
International interdisciplinary artist Anida Yoeu Ali (Cambodia/USA) returns to debut The Red Chador: Stranded, a Studio Revolt film shot in Gurambilbarra / Townsville in 2021.
"We didn't realise at the time how relevant this film would be," Ms Ali said.
"This work honours a geo-political moment in which Muslim bodies are literally being bombed to bits, particularly women and children, and it is part of a much bigger historical struggle in which occupation and militarism have devastated entire populations and lands."
Elysha Rei, a Japanese Australian artist based in Meanjin (Brisbane), explores narratives of cultural identity through a site-specific paper-cutting installation called Kiri-edo.
The exhibition is staged within Yeddo, a Japanese house shipped to Wargamay Country (Ingham) more than 136 years ago.
Yeddo is the oldest traditional and finest-known example of its Japanese style of architecture in Australia.
"It's an honour to craft this installation at the Japanese house, drawing upon my own heritage and the long-standing history between Japan and Australia," Ms Rei said
"It will be one of my most poignant projects to date."
PUNQ 2024 runs from 1 – 18 August at various locations around North Queensland.
