Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) has become a world renowned event in the 13 years it has hosted First Nations art, fashion and performance from throughout Australia and as far afield as the most remote communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait.

In her last year as Artistic Director after eight years of leading CIAF, Janina Harding said she is excited to be welcoming people back to the show face to face rather than online as it was forced to do over pandemic times.

She said she feels particularly proud of her team and the incredible quality of artwork on show this year.

“I cannot wait to share this stunning exhibition along with the 17 incredible installations comprising our new commissioning project, Big Sculpture Showcase.

“CIAF really is an event like no other, in the way it brings people together from all over Australia and the world,” Harding said.

Her influence on CIAF has been profound, overseeing its growth and also designing this year’s theme – Masters of Country.

Artist Jack Andrew Wilkie-Jans had three of his works chosen to exhibit at CIAF.

Wilkie-Jans, who is also the CIAF marketing manager, said he is revelling in seeing Cairns come to life during the festival and witnessing the wider effect it has on the arts and the economy.

“We started 13 years ago this year, and it’s been an incredible journey,” he said.

“In that time, we’ve represented nearly 20,000 First Nations – from Queensland – artists. And that includes designers, and performers, models, the rest, as well as artists. So that’s quite a number of people.

“We’ve brought in something around $10 million a year to the Queensland economy in general. And that includes a variety of factors as well. For example, Cairns right now, you couldn’t get a bed at a hotel, even if it was the janitor’s closet.

“So I think that goes to show, the draw card that CIAF is for Queensland. And of course, that influences, not only the national, the domestic and international tourist trades, but especially the arts industry.

“CIAFs very proud of the fact that we’ve opened the market to, especially North Queensland, and that’s Cape York and the Torres Strait and the Gulf of Carpentaria. So that’s what makes CIAF special in only one of many ways.”

Wilkie-Jans found Janina’s chosen theme of Masters of Country helped him explore his connection to his art practice.

“I know that Janina wanted to re-signify that word Masters. Of course, in Australia, Indigenous peoples after white fellas came, we weren’t masters of anything, but we are Masters of Country,” Wilkie-Jans said.

“We are Masters as artists as well. So she’s also wanting us to hark back to that concept of master painters, master craftsman, and that’s what we are.

“And so she’s declaring that – basically what she’s saying is that Indigenous artists, especially the ones at Queensland, we are masters of our trade, and I think that’s a powerful statement.

He said thinking about what his country is and his relationship to it prompted his creations.

“I thought it would be best for me to paint my country where I grew up in the Western Cape, which is Mapoon, which is where I’m from, but also Weipa and Aurakun, which is a largely Thanakwithi country,” he said.

“Just the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever imagine, and yet it’s girt by bauxite mining. So it’s this contrast, I suppose.

“So it’s a little abstract, I’d call it an abstract landscape, which is a departure from my usual style, which is yeah, different. But I had a theme. I had a great theme to consider when I was creating those works.

“And I actually think that Indigenous peoples, especially as creative ones, we respond to that theme all the time. But I feel that this year, Janina has given us the room to really take that response that we have daily with our country and how we live, into a manifesto of these important pieces of art.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said CIAF provided an opportunity for local, interstate, and international guests to explore North Queensland’s rich artistic legacy.

“CIAF helps showcase the longest continuous living culture in the world, and it has been a privilege to see the art fair evolve over the past 13 years,” Palaszczuk said.

“From starting out as Australia’s first arts market featuring works of the First Nations peoples of Queensland, to navigating the pandemic online, and now resuming a comprehensive program of performing arts and children’s programs.”

CIAF continues for five days, closing on July 10.