Island Fashion on Tour

Island Fashion on Tour

Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum is delighted to present Island Fashion on Tour, a Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) regional touring project for children and families.

Island Fashion on Tour features a range of free, hands-on art making activities created by QAGOMA in collaboration with Australian and Pacific artists Grace Lillian Lee, Maryann Talia Pau and Ranu James and Letila Mitchell.

Grace Lillian Lee’s activity GET YOUR WEAVE ON 2019 encourages audiences to use simple folding techniques with strips of brightly coloured paper to create wearable accessories such as paper bracelets, neckpieces and head-pieces.

While Maryann Talia Pau and Ranu James’ activity ULA TAIM 2019 encourages the creation of elaborate neckpieces, wristbands and anklets using hand-drawn patterns and weaving with paper.

Letila Mitchell’s activity SASI, PERA, LAGI – OF THE OCEAN, LAND AND SKY invites children to create their own textile design using patterns created by the artist.

Island Fashion on Tour is available at the Gallery & Museum from 7 March to 25 April 2020, while supplies last.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Grace Lillian Lee is a multicultural artist and descendant of the Meriam Mer people of the eastern islands of the Torres Strait. Lee’s woven necklaces and body sculptures are a modern interpretation of a technique she learnt from her mentor, renowned artist Ken Thaiday from Erub (Darnley Island). Thaiday who first taught her to weave with palm fronds — a technique affectionately referred to in the Torres Strait as ‘grasshopper weaving’, and one of the first to be taught to children.

Maryann Talia Pau is a Samoan-Australian artist and weaver whose creative practice encompasses a wide range of ventures from weaving workshops, designing and operating the Super Native brand, selling her handcrafted jewellery and presenting her work in museums and galleries. Weaving is something that is practiced widely across Pacific Island culture and it’s profoundly linked to Maryann Talia Pau’s cultural heritage. She describes herself as a maker and a storyteller, using weaving as a means of self-reflection as well as spreading a positive message to others.

Ranu James is a PNG artist and weaver based in Australia. In recent years she has been relearning the traditional weaving techniques of her family in the village of Gaba Gaba on the central coast of PNG.

Letila Mitchell is a Rotuman Fijian woman and the creator of RakoDesigns, a fashion and design label based in Fiji. The collective includes more than 20 dancers, musicians and fashion and textile designers. RakoDesigns clothing is hand-dyed and hand-printed with patterns that are often inspired by the natural environment.

Island Fashion on Tour is free QAGOMA Touring program available to regional Queensland communities.