Experience the vibrant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures of Queensland at the 2021 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) on this exclusive celebration of indigenous art and Tropical North Queensland. The CIAF is focused on offering an ethical art marketplace, commissioning new work and providing pathways for emerging visual and performance artists. The works on display are for sale and as part of the journey you have exclusive preview privileges which give you the opportunity to purchase art ahead of the public.
Journey Highlights
- Be privileged to an exclusive pre-opening viewing of the CIAF exhibition
- Enjoy a personalised tour of the fair with CIAF Artistic Director Janina Harding
- Meet the designers and curators who bring the CIAF fashion show to life
- Attend an exclusive VIP gallery event with the indigenous artists and their families
- Spend a day in the Daintree Rainforest and meet the inspirational owners of a private conservation garden
- Take part in a hands-on Aboriginal art workshop
Number of guests: 24
Number of days: 6
Tuesday 17 August 2021: Arrive Cairns
On arrival into Cairns you will be transferred from the airport to your hotel, the Shangri-la Cairns. This evening, meet the rest of your group and Resident Tour Director for a tour briefing, to be followed by a three-course dinner and drinks.
Shangri-la Cairns (Horizon Club Room) | Meals: D
Wednesday 18 August 2021: Cairns
After breakfast and a leisurely morning, you will be transferred to the heritage-listed Tanks Art Centre set within the Cairns Botanical Gardens. Here you will be treated to an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience as you watch rehearsals for the highly anticipated CIAF fashion show. Admire the impressive catwalk creations and have the opportunity to talk with the programme curator and the Indigenous designers themselves.
The event will be accompanied by drinks and canapés. Return to your hotel and later this evening make your way to the Cairns Art Gallery to attend the private launch event for the CIAF satellite exhibition. This exclusive VIP preview event takes place ahead of the exhibition being open to the public and will be attended by artists from a variety of communities and their families.
Shangri-la Cairns (Horizon Club Room) | Meals: B
Thursday 19 August 2021: Cairns
Enjoy a morning at leisure to explore on your own before meeting your Resident Tour Director this afternoon and transferring to the newly refurbished Cairns Convention Centre where the main CIAF exhibition is housed. The fair officially opens on Friday 20 August but you will have the exclusive opportunity to preview it this afternoon ahead of the general public.
After a welcome to country from a local traditional owner join CIAF Artistic Director Janina Harding for an exclusive guided tour of the fair accompanied by drinks and canapés featuring local and native ingredients. Janina grew up in Melbourne where she has lived and worked most of her life. Her cultural heritage is Meriam Mir (Erub/Mer) of the Eastern Torres Strait and Ku Ku (North East) of Cape York and she has thirty years’ experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultural projects and programmes and served two terms on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council. Her passion for Indigenous arts is inspiring and she will share many personal insights to the artists, their stories and their work. After your private viewing of the art fair return to the hotel.
Shangri-la Cairns (Horizon Club Room) | Meals: B
Friday 20 August 2021: Cairns
This morning join your Resident Tour Director for the trip north to the World Heritage Listed Daintree National Park passing through rich farming areas en route. Stop at Mossman Gorge, which forms the southern sector of the renowned Daintree Rainforest, for a privately guided Dreamtime walk with a member of the local Aboriginal tribe who will bring to life indigenous customs and survival techniques. A traditional Welcome to Country Smoking Ceremony and Bush Tucker morning tea are among the highlights of this experience.
Then, a surprise is in store as you visit a private tropical garden at the end of a jungle-clad valley in the heart of the rainforest. Meet the founders of this tropical oasis who are recreating small microcosms of rainforest from the four corners of the globe, protecting and preserving the world's most unique plant species. Enjoy a fascinating interpretive tour of the garden and be inspired as you learn about the intrinsic link between rainforest plants and different cultures. Then relax and unwind over lunch on the veranda of their beautiful Queensland home hearing tales of travels to remote indigenous communities where they further enhance their broad knowledge of anthropology and collect examples of rare equatorial plant life.
Afterwards, head to the Janbal Art Gallery in Mossman where you will take part in an Indigenous art workshop. Learn how to understand stories told through Aboriginal paintings and create your own memento of the experience to take home under the guidance of an Aboriginal artist. As well as learning about Aboriginal ochre paints, Indigenous art history and painting techniques, hear stories about traditional bush foods, construction materials and medicines. You can also learn the stories and meanings behind some of the gallery’s paintings, and share precious East Coast Kuku Yalanji Dreamtime stories about the animals, environment and language of the Indigenous rainforest people from Mossman and the Daintree rainforest.
After your workshop return to Cairns.
Shangri-la Cairns (Horizon Club Room) | Meals: BL
Saturday 21 August 2021: Cairns
Today is at leisure to relax, further explore Cairns or revisit the art fair.
Shangri-la Cairns (Horizon Club Room) | Meals: B
Sunday 22 August 2021: Depart Cairns
Following breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight.
Meals: B
