Background Image

Artists head to Guam for the largest regional cultural gathering in the Pacific

Queensland Indigenous artists Bianca Beetson, Delvene Cockatoo-Collins, and Mau Power, and organisations Naygayiw Gigi Indigenous Corporation and Digi Youth Arts, are among the Australian delegates to represent our country at the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts (FoPA) in Guam from 22 May to 4 June 2016.

Established in 1972, and held every four years, FoPA is the world's largest gathering of Indigenous Pacific cultures, and has brought together the peoples from 27 Pacific Island nations to share their cultures and establish deeper understanding and friendship.

As part of the Festival, 60 Australian artists will showcase a wide range of traditional and contemporary artistic and cultural expressions, including dance, music, literature, film, theatre, ceramics and lino-printing, painting, pearl shell carving, songwriting, bush tucker and bush medicine, weaving, canoe making, and traditional games.

 

Naygayiw Gigi dance troupe.

 

The FoPA Australian delegation is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland's Backing Indigenous Arts initiative. The project is also 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.

Check out the Ministry for the Arts website for a list of the Australian artists and collectives involved in the Festival.