FEDERAL Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch says three local arts organisations will receive a combined total of $121,600 to help keep Indigenous languages and art alive.
The funding was part of more than $3-million announced by Minister for the Arts, Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield today for 59 projects across the country that will showcase Australia’s traditional and contemporary Indigenous cultural and artistic expressions.
Mr Entsch said: “Art is vital to any culture to create a sense of identity and pride, so I’m pleased that these three local organisations will play an important role helping to sustain and strengthen our Indigenous communities.
“This Federal funding will increase audience engagement with a broad range of Indigenous art forms – ranging from music and storytelling to linoleum carving – and contribute to a stronger sense of cultural identity among our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The funding includes:
• $50,000 for AustraNesia Creative & Cultural Support to produce new and existing musical works that combine traditional and contemporary elements, embedding languages from Far North Queensland.
• $45,000 for Umi Arts Ltd (in partnership with the Wujal Wujal and Kowanyama communities) to develop a series of workshops designed to upskill participants in visual art and craft, ceremony and storytelling, and dance and music.
• $26,600 for KickArts Contemporary Arts Ltd to develop a bilingual art exhibition highlighting the tradition of large-scale linoleum carving in the Torres Strait region. The completed words will be on display in KickArts in April 2016.
More information on the Indigenous Languages and Arts program, as well as a full list of funding recipients, can be found on the Minister for the Arts website:
http://arts.gov.au/topics/indigenous-arts-languages-and-culture/indigenous-languages-and-arts
