SENATOR THE HON CONCETTA FIERRAVANTI-WELLS
MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE PACIFIC
19 May 2016
Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, on behalf of the Government, today farewelled a delegation of 59 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists who will represent Australia at the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam.
The Festival, held every four years, brings together 27 Pacific nations to celebrate art and culture, and runs from 22 May to 4 June 2016.
Australia’s delegation of artists will present a strong, cohesive and vibrant artistic program that showcases Australia’s rich and diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
The Festival’s theme this year is What we Own, What we Have, What we Share United Voices of the Pacific giving artists and cultural practitioners the opportunity to share stories, traditions and experiences.
The artists cover a broad range of traditional and contemporary artistic and cultural expressions including dance, music, weaving and net making, photography, literature, storytelling, language, film, theatre, ceramics and lino-printing, painting, pearl shell carving, song writing, bush tucker and bush medicine, traditional games, fishing and hunting, wood carving, canoe making, feather craft and more.
Our participation in the Festival of Pacific Arts is just one example of the Government’s commitment to celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, as well as strengthening cultural ties with our Pacific neighbours.
Australia’s representation at the festival is supported by the Australian Government in partnership with Torres Strait Regional Authority, Creative Victoria, Arts NT and the Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts. The delegation is also supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Backing Indigenous Arts initiative.
For more information about the Festival of Pacific Arts visit the Ministry for the Arts website at www.arts.gov.au/FOPA.