QAGOMA Art as Exchange
Art as Exchange invited leaders in visual art and art education from five locations across Queensland to investigate histories and reveal contemporary modes of engaging with sites of First Nation significance. In 2023, the program travelled to Camooweal through the support of the Indjalandji-Dhidhanu Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC. This iteration of Art as Exchange, hosted 8 selected art and education professionals who worked across primary, secondary, tertiary, gallery and community contexts.
Facilitated by QAGOMA Learning staff, the workshops seek to stimulate secondary student engagement with regional galleries, strengthen state-wide advocacy for arts education, and identify research opportunities to evidence innovation.
CONCEPT
As an initiative aligned to life-long learning programs, this residential workshop (2.5 days and 2 nights) is designed to create constructive dialogue between educators, arts workers and artists from working in regions across Queensland. The workshop will draw inspiration from the Collections of Queensland’s state and regional galleries with the aim of establishing a sustainable platform of exchange between minds, artworks and communities.
Artists with ancestral ties to the area will be invited to attend for the duration of the workshop and facilitate avenues of cultural learning through both discussion and workshop components. Joining QAGOMA in the delivery of Art as Exchange 2023 is inspirational Indigenous Australian artist Shirley Macnamara (Indjalandji-Dhidhanu/Alyawarr people).
Representatives from across the North Queensland region of the Department of Education will be invited to attend the program. Participants will be required to follow the guidance of representatives from the Indjalandji-Dhidhanu peoples and recognise the neighbouring traditional custodians of Wakaya, Kalkadoon, Bularnu, Wakabunga, Waanyi and Mayi-Thakurti, Mayi-Kutuna and Wunumara Country.
Shirley took participants through her Country and invited a creative response to the experience.
My attendance at the Art as Exchange program was supported by City of Moreton Bay RADF and Arts Queensland through a Quick Response – Professional Development grant. The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and City of Moreton Bay to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
Photo acknowledgment: Photos courtesy of the artist
