The second annual Cairns Indigenous Art Fair begins tonight, promising to build on the spectacular success of the inaugural event in 2009. Simon Crerar catches up with artistic director Michael Snelling to find out how the event has grown in 2010 and why Cairns need it...

This weekend in Cairns you can watch dancers from the tip of Cape York, hear the National Indigenous Children’s Choir, and buy artworks made by artists based as far away as Brisbane, Cardwell, Thursday and Mornington islands.

Kicking off tonight at Tanks Arts Centre with an exciting opening party, this year’s Cairns Indigenous Art Fair is a wonderfully diverse celebration of the best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and crafts from across Queensland.

Mixing contemporary and traditional arts, the packed three-day program blends visual arts, film, music, dance and theatre.

"CIAF is a celebration, but at its root it has an economic base, trying to develop and improve an economy for local artists," artistic director Michael Snelling explains.

It was set up last year in recognition of the fact that indigenous arts in Far North Queensland have not been paid enough attention. In fact, the market for Aboriginal and indigenous art from Queensland is several decades behind that of western desert and Arnhem Land art.

CIAF acts as a focal point and platform for artists to gain exposure, while raising awareness of how the art market works and injecting more than $500,000 into the cultural economy.

While acrylic representations of traditional ceremonial ground paintings and bark paintings from the Northern Territory gained increasing exposure from the 1970s and now command record-breaking sums internationally, the local political climate and lack of support for indigenous art in Queensland meant it wasn’t until the 1990s a renaissance began.

Over the last decade centres across the state have stimulated interest in and support of indigenous art. Now CIAF is playing a vital role championing national and international awareness of Queensland art.

For three days this weekend, visitors to Tanks Arts Centre can buy art by more than 150 indigenous Queensland artists at every stage in their careers, from emerging names to established international stars such as Richard Bell and Vernon Ah Kee.

Queensland indigenous art centres and commercial galleries from across Australia will exhibit a rich variety of works starting at only $100.

International collectors are among those attending.

Galleries exhibiting include well-known champions of Aboriginal art such as Melbourne’s Alcaston and Sydney’s Hogarth galleries, plus galleries from Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas. More than a dozen indigenous art centres from across the state are represented, including the acclaimed Lockhart River.

Broadening the fair’s appeal, this year the CIAF Exhibition moves to Cairns Regional Gallery in the heart of the city, with a show displaying a diverse mix of disparate traditions and styles from traditional weaving to digital art.

"I deliberately try ensure that this show mixes political, contemporary, new and traditional work," Snelling says. "This is what indigenous art is – it’s not just dot painting."

>> The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) runs from Friday until Sunday at the Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns Regional Gallery and various other satellite venues around Cairns. The program includes a huge range of exhibitions, musical performances, artist talks, dance shows, workshops, activities for children and more, most of which are free to attend. For the full program, visit www.ciaf.com.au

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