• Sector: Arts and Culture
• Country location: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
• Grantee: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Project description

'Women's Wealth' is a major project developed for QAGOMA's flagship exhibition series, 'The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art '(APT9). The project will highlight the important role that women's creative work plays in Indigenous communities in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Led by Buka women, curator Sana Balai and artists Taloi and Marilyn Havini, 'Women's Wealth' explores the ways customary practices such as weaving and pottery act as sites in which Indigenous women create forms of great aesthetic and cultural significance, establish livelihoods and a sense of collective agency and authority.

The project includes a 10 day creative workshop involving a group of 19 female artists from Australia, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) and the Solomon Islands in September 2017. Located in Bougainville, the workshop will create people-to-people networks through knowledge sharing, creative practice and collaboration. It will also provide a culturally safe space in which to engage with shared histories and enable participating artists to establish ground-work for future conversations.

The workshop will facilitate the exchange of ideas and techniques for the development of new experimental approaches. Innovative works flowing from these workshops will be presented in APT9 (November 2018-April 2019).

Key dates

• Artist Workshop, Nazareth Centre, Chabai, Autonomous Region of Bouganville, Papua New Guinea, 5 to 15 September 2017
• APT9 Official Opening, QAGOMA, Brisbane, 23 November 2018
• APT9 Exhibition, QAGOMA, Brisbane, 24 November 2018 to 28 April 2019

• Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program grant offer: $60,000.00
• Total project value: $5,063,442.00