Read the full August NorthSite News here

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

The time is now.  NorthSite is reopen!

To say it’s been a challenging road over these past years is an understatement – but we’re demonstrating that bold ideas and determination pay off. Just keep swimming!

Following a long renovation, a short two-week period of reopening at Bulmba-ja in March, a national shutdown for coronavirus, a pivot to online films and shows, and installation of five new exhibitions (phew!), we’re back!

While the new COVID-19 environment has created challenges across all aspects of life and industry and everyone is reminded to take care while approaching one day at a time; our artists demonstrate the power and longevity of creativity.

…and our audiences have reminded us how the experience of viewing art can act as a needed pause, an interlude and reflection upon the madness, beauty and complexity of life – so thank you to every person who has connected online or attended the galleries and bought from the NorthSite Store since we reopened on 13 July. It’s great to see smiling faces and be operating again, with processes in place to protect our patrons and each other.

For now, there’s no big parties on the horizon, but more intimate openings and conversations – capped numbers are key. As such, we’ll be holding a member’s tour of the galleries on evening of 26 August, for the first 30 members to RSVP. Again – huge thanks is extended to our valued members who’ve supported us throughout 2018/19, this revisioning period and the transition back home.

2021 is looking up for our organisation and contemporary artists of the north, with confirmation of new support from Arts Queensland, Australia Council for the Arts and national philanthropic bodies including John T Reid Charitable Trusts and Ian Potter Foundation. We gratefully accept and acknowledge this vital support for our programs.

We also thank arts publications Vault, Art Guide Australia, Art Monthly Australasia and also Vogue Living for their recent coverage of NorthSite. We recognise Museums & Galleries Queensland, PGAQ, Aus Co, IACA & NAVA for their tireless advocacy for artists and the arts sector through a difficult time. For artists still struggling to make sense of it all, each of these organisations have stacks of handy resources available to you online – and make sure you’ve checked out Arts Queensland’s Recovery Funding packages, closing soon.

It was great to recently virtually catch up with IACA members and provide a tour of the new shop and galleries as part of their online training series. Make sure you check out IACA’s  Indigenous Art Centre Guide to FNQ featuring all current Indigenous Arts Centres we continue stock in the NorthSite Store – with links to many of their new websites where you can increasingly buy ethical art directly from the Art Centre online.

We hope you enjoy our current exhibitions and we remind you to browse the custom elements and new ways of sharing contemporary work that we’ve built into online portals northsite.org.au  and shop.northsite.org.au this year.
… All for your art-viewing pleasure, wherever you may be!!

Below are links to current exhibitions and ways to connect. I suggest ordering a copy of the spectacular bilingual catalogue published to accompany the exhibition Billy Missi’n Wakain Thamai, listening to the voice of previous artist-in-residence Peter B Morrison narrating the drawings in his first solo exhibition here, or browsing the exceptional first show of stunning weavings and feather flowers by Wik woman Rhonda Woolla, (with artworks are available to purchase in the NorthSite online store).

Through these portals, it’s now easier than ever to hear directly from the artists as they share their voice through art. Browse, listen and leave your comments on our digital comments books, even if you can’t make it to the gallery in Cairns at this time.

Today, we launch the first responses to provocation postcard 1 in the weekly virtual series
M E R I – kirapim skin blo yu, created by playwright and contemporary artist Wendy Mocke, and young PNG women. This virtual series will proceed her postponed ‘m e r i’ project at NorthSite later next year. Watch on our NorthSite IGTV Channel or through Melanin Haus on instagram.
(When you have a moment, Check out Miranda Tapsell perform Mocke’s ‘Tiger Scare’, recently produced for Sydney Theatre Company, where Mocke is part of the Emerging Writers Group!)   

Tomorrow is the first day for Disquiet: Ecological Anxieties and Transformations by local artists Robyn Glade-Wright and Barbara Dover. There’s a great review of this touring exhibition, written by artist (and NorthSite Board member) Andrea Huelin, titled ‘Anxiety & Allure’ on the Art Monthly blog.

Again, we congratulate teacher & artist Jane Heraghty for her fluid approach to her recent exhibition of paintings and small sculptures Outside and Inside the Universe: Still Lifes. All recent exhibitions are archived online with works still available to purchase through Shop.NorthSite.org.au

Also, later this month, keep your eyes peeled for online performances as part of CIAF’s 2020 program, with a live broadcast from Bulmba-ja as we open the long-awaited retrospective of Billy Missi’s significant artworks alongside the Billy Missi Estate, family, friends and Maluilgal Dance Group!

You may have heard, the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and festival is taking on a new digital format this year, with a virtual art market and fashion showcase ‘Water is Sacred’, curated by Simone Arnol and Bernie Singleton Jnr, choreographed by Hans Ahwang and filmed on Country, and broadcast via CIAF Facebook 21 August. You can still see Bernie’s Dadigal Fishbone design digital animation commissioned for the Bulmba-ja facade as you drive by NorthSite.

As our CIAF shows go on, please share our exhibitions for this period with those you know may be interested to view from home, and you can tune in to the live broadcast of the Billy Missi opening, Saturday 15 Aug, 3 – 5pm!

I’d like to take the opportunity to shout out to the dedicated NorthSite Board and my extraordinary team Rebecca, Wilma and Rosie…for everything. I’m mighty proud of the way we’ve been able to push on and create some new opportunities for artists at this time. On that note, for the curious ones our 2019 Annual Report is accessible online and if you know a super curator, pass on the word that we’re recruiting!

Take care, keep those hands squeaky clean and we’ll see you, at the gallery or online soon!

Ashleigh Campbell
Director

NORTHSITE CLOSES GALLERIES, SHOP and SWITCHES ONLINE COVID:19

Good morning.

As we take all precautions to keep our staff, artists and audiences safe and supported at this time, we will not be opening the doors to NorthSite at Bulmba-ja today and will not be physically open to the public again, until after an inevitable period of greater disruption to everyday life and the issue of  COVID-19 virus passes.

Our small team of four, needs to prioritise today to ensure we swiftly adapt given the rapidly changing global circumstances.

As of 19 March 2020, we’ll be working online as required, reduced hours. Certainly, not what I thought we’d be doing when we opened the new KickArts as NorthSite only two weeks ago!

Although there are still no officially confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cairns, Cape York, Torres Strait or wider FNQ, COVID-19 is a global pandemic. Please be cautious and take this viral health issue seriously, but do not panic.

Follow the advice of the World Health Organisation and Queensland Health, particularly for your area.

You are not alone in this and everyone you know is experiencing the waves of emotion as we realise situation at hand and the effect that closures will have on our daily lives. The unknowns are challenging and everyone will be at different stages and situation throughout this course, but keep a positive and rational approach. Smile at your neighbours. We will get through.

After two days of testing of remote working capabilities, I feel there are many things we will be able to do to help manage stress, information overload and our mental wellness at this time. This is what we’ll be focusing on when we pick up our programs again.

• Get outside and soak up sunshine – the sky is still there and with water a seed will still grow
• Keep moving
• Get creative – with more time and much emotion, great art will be made. Write and tell your stories.
• Get connected – social distance doesn’t have to be emotionally isolating but limit your time online
• Daily structure will be important
• Look after those around you

Across the world social distancing measures are being implemented and may be required to flatten the curve. This will affect our ability to undertake our line of business- therefore we are moving now, so we can keep working through this period.

We encourage each and every one of you to continue best personal hygiene practices and talk with your households, families and friends about how you will approach this difficult time.

We are working through the immediate changes and challenges and then we’ll be here online for artists as we engage in new ways.

We ask that if you have urgent questions, please phone 07 4050 9496.

We have set up remote access and phone lines. If you can, just calmly gather passwords and make sure you’ve got what you need to log into online portals.

Stay squeaky 🖐💦🤚

Stay safe

Ashleigh Campbell, Director

UPDATE: NORTHSITE ACTIONS ON COVID-19 to 17 March 2020.

We want to wish you all the best at this time and provide an update on the measures we are taking in the best interest of our artists and audiences in these uncertain times.

On 2 March, we re-opened our doors to the public following Arts Queensland’s renovation, and the opening of Bulmba-ja on 29 February.

After a long 18 months away from home and an exciting transition from KickArts to NorthSite, it’s been truly wonderful to be back doing our business alongside JUTE Theatre Company, Miriki Performing Arts and Pryce Centre for Arts and Culture.

An in-bound travel ban from affected countries, in place from 1 February was noticeable on the streets of Cairns with a huge drop in tourist numbers, so we acted early on COVID-19 awareness introducing strict ‘stay-home-if-sick policy’ and then introduced new personal hygiene practices from our first day of opening the NorthSite Store and galleries on 2 March 2020. Wet ones all round!!

Arts Queensland also increased cleaning of the building and surfaces and we continue to follow Queensland Department of Health advice and guidelines.

On Friday afternoon following the Prime Minister’s address, we began to have conversations about the responsibility of holding an Artists’ Party in two weeks time.

As we work with a lot of wonderful mob and the care of all our artists, audiences and the Elders in our communities is of upmost importance, we made the tough call postpone the first long-awaited exhibition openings. While the numbers were over 300 but capped under the recommended limit of 500 people for social gatherings, we tried to anticipate a situation two weeks ahead, and acted, due to the span of attendees travelling from Far North Indigenous communities and various cities and the need to provide some clarity around guests’ travel plans.

On Saturday we postponed the NorthSite Opening – Artists’ Party. Thank you to everyone who has pre-booked tickets. There will be another time to really celebrate when we reopen.

Last night (Sunday 15 March), as a precautionary measure we cancelled flights booked for people flying in from communities for an exhibition project meeting taking place here over next days. A difficult and disappointing decision for the Missi family, for an exhibition already once postponed through building delays, but a precautionary measure we are glad we made. The planning continues when things calm here with planning and more is known about the situation we face.

All along the way we are assessing the immediate situation and following the WHO and Qld Health daily advice.

Due to the size of our small team, we also made a call to immediately treat today (Monday) as a work-from-home day, testing the online working capacity of our team.

We’ve begun assessing the impact of a potential closure, a process of communication with affected stakeholders who are affected this week (16-20 March), cancelling our artist-in-residence with Peter Morrison who was ready for his second day back with us, drawing towards his upcoming exhibition. For the time being, school group visits and other programs are postponed due to staff capacity, as we prepare for a potential temporary closure and until more information becomes available on the situation locally. Sorry Mossman State School – we were so looking forward to seeing you!

Update:

The NorthSite Galleries and NorthSite Store are also closed for today 17 March as staff undertake flexible working arrangements and take a day now, to look after their family’s needs at this time. It’s important to make sure you have access to required prescriptions etc as we don’t know timelines for inevitable closures. We should all plan for various scenarios and how we’ll ride them out.

NorthSite has done an enormous amount of work behind the scenes this past year – so we have a great strategic plan and program in place and we are looking at ways that we’ll to continue to work and share art with you. Keeping things ticking at this time is important.

We are continuing to undertake our work and are awaiting information from Arts Queensland, as the state arts body and building management. We anticipate and plan for a temporary closure at some point. It’s an ever evolving situation.

What is clear now, is that we will continue to share the stories of the North and support artists as best we can.

We’re in this together. Take care

Ashleigh Campbell, Director

Installation view Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg

TRACEY MOFFATT & GARY HILLBERG

Montages: The Full Cut 1999-2015

2 MARCH — 11 MAY 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, installation view at NorthSite, Cairns March – May 2020

Tracey Moffatt & Gary Hillberg. Artist (still), 200010 minuteslooped video, soundCourtesy the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York

Tracey Moffatt & Gary Hillberg. Love(still) , 2003 21 minutes looped video, sound Courtesy the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York

Tracey Moffatt & Gary Hillberg. Other (still) , 2010 7 minutes looped video, sound Courtesy the artist, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York

OPENING BULMBA-JA

Read the e-news here

Bulmba-ja Opens

This Saturday, come celebrate with Arts Queensland’s free Community welcome day as the doors open to Cairns’ revitalised arts centre – Bulmba-ja (formerly Centre of Contemporary Arts).

The community welcome day will feature family-friendly activities including workshops and panel discussions. Bookings here:  bit.ly/Bulmba-ja-Workshops

The doors will swing open to the new NorthSite Store and exhibitions, including:

• Tracey Moffatt & Gary Hillberg | Montages: The Full 1999 – 2015
• Tim Ellis | Folk Stories
• Olivia Azzopardi | Function Paralysis
• Darren Blackman | Expose the Gap

Plus digital animations on the Bulmba-ja Facade by Bernie Singleton and Marun Carl Fourmile.

Bernard Singleton_dadigal fishbone design on Bulmba-ja Facade for opening of the building.

A final word

NorthSite will hold an opening event for the first season of exhibitions on Saturday 28 March, 2020.  An Artists’ Party. It’s been a long time between drinks!

We look forward to creating and celebrating the next chapter with you.

With Thanks,
NorthSite Contemporary Arts

ANNOUNCING BULMBA-JA ARTS CENTRE

Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Leeanne Enoch

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

New name, new artworks and new vision for Centre of Contemporary Arts Cairns

The Palaszczuk Government’s $5.9 million refurbishment for the Centre of Contemporary Arts Cairns (CoCA) will see the cultural facility re-open with a new name and new vision.

While visiting the region, Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch revealed the new name of the refurbished arts centre will be called Bulmba-ja (pronounced BULL-im-baa-jar), a name selected by the Traditional Owners peoples of the region from both the Yirrgandydji and Yidinji groups, meaning house.

“The meaning of the name Bulmba-ja is highly appropriate for the site’s new focus as a place for the development and presentation of new work, particularly contemporary First Nations work” Ms Enoch said.

“This multi-million dollar revitalisation of the Bulmba-ja Arts Centre is the latest investment from the Palaszczuk Government into arts and cultural initiatives for Cairns and far north Queensland region, including $15 million for the Cairns Performing Arts Centre, support for a revamp of the Munro Martin Parklands, and funding for artists and arts organisations based in the region.

“This means support for more jobs, artists and arts and cultural workers in the region.”

Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the Bulmba-ja Arts Centre will be an ongoing home to JUTE Theatre Company and NorthSite Contemporary Arts (formerly KickArts), along with new tenants Miriki Performing Arts and The Pryce Centre for Culture and Arts.

“Exciting new projects will be presented at Bulmba-ja in 2020 and beyond, showcasing the work of indigenous artists and providing a place for visitors to engage with arts experiences,” Mr Healy said.

“Along with a vibrant and welcoming new look, Bulmba-ja incorporates a Yarning Circle and Elder’s lounge along with a unique integrated LED facade which will display a series of five digital artworks over 2020, commissioned by NorthSite Contemporary Arts.”

The first two works to feature on the facade are from artists Bernard Singleton (Umpila, Djabuguy/Yirrganydji) and Carl Fourmile (Yidinji).

“I’m working with drawings on photographs of the Inlet and this Country, Gimuy,” Mr Fourmile said.

“I love to be able to network and share with locals and the wider community about culture and our beliefs, so people can have a bit more understanding about this Country, and what it is to be a Bama person.”

Fellow artist Bernard Singleton said, “My design is Dadikal – the fishbone totem. Symmetry in initiation and protection by our totems binded in ochres.

“I see works on this scope as a grounding within the arts community and seeing how different approaches can portray a true connection to Country and community.

“This is an example of when respect, engagement and understanding results in showcasing traditional connections to Country,” Mr Singleton said.

Bulmba-ja includes a new foyer, improved theatre and gallery access, flexible office space, upgraded theatre equipment and new studio spaces for arts participation and development activities.

LAUNCHING NORTHSITE CONTEMPORARY ARTS

A NEW ERA FOR ARTS IN THE NORTH

After 27 years of presenting contemporary artistic practice in Far North Queensland… KickArts launches NorthSite Contemporary Arts.

See the news and read the Press Release here.

• KA New brand unveiled_NorthSiteFINAL
• ARTSHUB Article –  Introducing NorthSite Contemporary Arts, melding three decades of community drive and experience with a new brand that speaks more to geography and creative vision.
• CAIRNS Post Article – Fresh start, Modern Home, new name. Why KickArts decided to change its name before moving back to Centre of Contemporary Arts

AS ONE DECADE CLOSES, ANOTHER DOOR OPENS

As we approach the end of the year I’d like to thank you for your patience during this unprecedented transition.

We’ve had some false starts in terms of timelines for re-entry to the Centre this year, which has stretched our team and affected several planned exhibitions, but we are doing well in the circumstances. Thanks to the professionalism and flexibility of the artists of the north.

I am very proud of our staff and Board who have been resilient and committed as we’ve prepared to expand and retracted with building delays. Thank you.

This consolidated time has however allowed us to lay foundations that will serve us well into the future.

This week we submitted our final application for 4-year organisational funding through the Australia Council for the Arts. (A highly competitive, two-stage process for top Australian arts organisations, for which we made the first cut. More here

This week I also spoke at the international Communicating the Arts Conference about change and agile leadership alongside museum professionals from across Australia and the globe.

As we know, change the only constant in life, so as I lead this much loved organisation into the next decade, we’ve decided to be bold and brave and embrace change to give us and artists from this region the greatest opportunities for success into the future. Stay tuned.

In the coming weeks, we’ll put together an overview of some of the wins and magic moments of KickArts in 2019 in our space on Lake Street and offsite locations.

I want to personally thank every one of you that has supported us this year by buying art, renewing your membership or attending events. Also, I’d like to say a massive thanks to our first Patrons who have made fully tax-deductible donations to support our organisation at an integral time.

The instrumental support of the northern arts community has made a world of difference in a financially and operationally challenging time. Thanks also to those who’ve recently been in touch to volunteer, we’ll be forming teams as we stage the move home once final dates are known.

We also thank Arts Queensland and Cairns Regional Council, Mama Coco and The Wine Tradition who have supported us to continue to operate the KickArts shop and deliver events and Creative Programs at our pop-up space The Hive, throughout the renovation.

We are very glad to announce our partnership with Cairns Novotel Oasis Resort who are happy to provide our members with a special room rate. Contact us if you’d like to take advantage of a local ‘vaystay’ and resort swims in the centre of Cairns, as summer heats up.

We are currently working on an exciting evolution in terms of our brand, to reflect the changes that have been taking place with our organisation and with the new build.  We are creating a brand identity that will best fit and reflect our organisation and equip us make our artists and audiences intervisible into the future.

I look forward to sharing more and boldly stepping into the next decade with you.

All my best, Ashleigh  [with high fives to and from Rebecca, Rosie, Wilma and Bec]