Reclamation & Regeneration, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF), Munimba-ja Art Centre, 2026

Project overview:

These print editions were developed during a 10-day Blak Camp residency with Munimba-ja Art Centre at Cairns NorthSite Print Studio. The residency brought together a collective of Blak creatives, mentoring by Sam Tupou and Matilda Nona whose guidance supported both my technical development and expanded conceptual thinking within my silkscreen practice. The works were created for presentation within the Munimba-ja booth at the Tanks Arts Centre as part of CIAF 2026.

Artwork Title: Radicle Emergence - Guli

Artist Statement

Radicle Emergence - Guli captures the moment of seed germination when a seed becomes viable and alive. Through a microscopic lens, I document the emergence of the radicle, the first root to break through the seed coat, as a metaphor for cultural renewal and continuity.

The work centres Guli, a native millet traditionally cultivated and processed into bush breads by K/Gamilaroi peoples. It is printed on handmade paper made from native grasses, using ochres sourced from Country and charcoal, embedding the material presence of Country and cultural practice within the work.

Through this work, the process of germinating Guli becomes a radicle act, a radical act of cultural reclamation grounded in ancestral practice and the hope for the regeneration of these cultural knowledges into the future.

These works respond to the 2026 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair theme, Reclamation & Regeneration, through an ongoing engagement with native grasses and seed ecologies. They reflect the resurgence of cultural knowledge, language, and ecological relationships through Indigenous creative practice.