MEDIA RELEASE
16 January 2007
For immediate release
PNG FIRST STOP FOR INDIGENOUS ART EXHIBITION
A major exhibition of Indigenous Australian art opens in Papua New Guinea this week and the public are being invited to see it for free.
The exhibition, called Gelam Nguzu Kazi - Dugong My Son, will go on display at the Holiday Inn in Port Moresby from Saturday 20 January to Friday 2 February.
The striking limited edition linocuts were produced by four artists from Mua Island in the western Torres Strait in northern Australia.
Drawing on their carving traditions, the artists in this exhibition pioneered a unique style of Torres Strait art, to tell their ancient history and stories in contemporary forms.
The exhibition is being toured internationally and PNG has been chosen as the first destination outside Australia. Its arrival in PNG has been timed to coincide with Australia Week 2007, which runs from Australia Day on 26 January to 2 February. The week of events aims to celebrate what is great about Australia and promote the strong bilateral relationship between Australia and PNG.
The Australian High Commissioner to PNG, His Excellency Mr Chris Moraitis, said: “The Australian Government values and supports the unique contribution Indigenous artists make to the identity of Australia's culturally diverse society.
“The Australian Government, through its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program, is proud to tour this exciting exhibition of prints over the next three years throughout our global network of diplomatic missions.
“It gives me great pleasure to see that PNG was chosen as the first destination for the exhibition outside Australia. This is partly in recognition of the close links that exist between the people of PNG and the Torres Strait Islanders.
“I would encourage everyone to visit this exhibition, which is being staged as part of Australia Week 2007.”
Produced by the Australian Art Print Network for the Kubin Community Council, the exhibition has been prepared for international touring by Artbank, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
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