Cairns Indigenous Art Fair draws record crowd

This year’s Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 2016 drew record crowds, with over 51,000 visitors attending the three-day event which ran from 15th to 17th July.

Based in the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, with numerous satellite events taking place across Cairns, the Fair featured hundreds of Indigenous artists, dancers and performers.

Sales of work at the Fair surpass that of previous years, with event organiser Vanessa Gillen said the results were a testament to the quality of art on show.

Gillen explained “the sales in one night have exceeded that of the same night last year.”

Carved dogs from Aurukun were a particularly popular item.

Now in its seventh year, the country's largest arts show of its kind was praised by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who stated it was “a world-class event”.

Premier Palaszczuk, who attended the opening night of the event, stated “I am so proud of these (Aurukun) artists, this show helps them build their confidence.

"This collection gives them that, and just the fact that their whole collection has sold out, I am just urging anyone who is a keen art collector to purchase one of these (Aurukun) dogs, I have got one myself, and so do my staff.”

The event also led to a number of key art acquisitions by institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria, AIATSIS and The Australian Museum.

12th July 2015 - FUNDING TO SUPPORT QUEENSLAND’S CREATIVE COMMUNITIES

28th May 2015 - MOSMAN ART GALLERY WINS TOP MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES AWARD

13th May 2015 - CAIRNS’ INDIGENOUS TOURISM ICON RE-LAUNCHED AFTER $13 MILLION UPGRADE

1st May 2015 - ATE 2014 LEGACY BOOSTS CAIRNS TOURISM 

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