Entertainment
19 February, 2026
First Nations art to feature in new exhibition
AN important new Children’s Health Queensland Arts in Health exhibition opening next month will highlight how the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair’s (CIAF) On Country VIP Program is increasingly shaping public and institutional collecting of Aboriginal and Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islander art.
Delivering long-term cultural legacy well beyond the annual art fair, the exhibition set to open at 10am on 12 March, showcases recently acquired works for the Children’s Health Queensland collection.
The exhibition will be displayed in the Queensland Children’s Hospital’s Community Gallery on Level 2, Queensland Children’s Hospital, 501 Stanley Street, South Brisbane.
The artworks were acquired over the past three years through Children’s Health Queensland’s Arts in Health program, following staff’s participation in CIAF’s On Country VIP Program.
CIAF Artistic Director Teho Ropeyarn said the acquisition demonstrated how CIAF was expanding its impact from a marketplace to a national cultural infrastructure and role as a pipeline between Aboriginal and Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islander artists, Country and enduring public collections.
“CIAF has always been about more than sales across four days in July. Rather, it is about relationships, education, and pathways that keep growing year after year,” Mr Ropeyarn said.
“The On Country VIP Program was designed precisely for moments like this, where curators and collectors don’t just see art, they experience the cultural context that gives it meaning.
“When that leads to acquisitions in public institutions like Children’s Health Queensland the benefits flow back to artists, communities, and audiences for generations,” he said.
Most recently, Cairns Airport unveiled a significant sculptural work by Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islander artist Toby Cedar. The artist’s large-scale contemporary outrigger canoe installation that now serves as a cultural centrepiece of the airport’s redevelopment, seen by millions of visitors annually.
