Torres Strait Islander artists and performers shone from the catwalk to exhibits and awards at the 2025 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) with support from the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA), including Gab Titui Cultural Centre.

Held during National NAIDOC Week (10–13 July) and returning to where it all began at the Tanks Arts Centre precinct, CIAF 2025 welcomed more than 400 visual and performing artists from across Queensland with a standout representation of creatives from the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area (NPA).

Gab Titui Cultural Centre, together with local artists Veronica Keane and Anson Dorante, joined the Erub Arts, Moa Arts, and Badu Arts centres in showcasing the rich diversity of Torres Strait Islander arts and culture.

TSRA Chairperson George Nona applauded the inclusion of Zenadth Kes and NPA artists across the 2025 program.

“CIAF continues to elevate our artists to national recognition, and TSRA is honoured to support both established and emerging creatives who are preserving and sharing our culture through art,” Mr Nona said.

“TSRA has invested and partnered with CIAF for several years, including to again sponsor the CIAF People’s Choice Award in 2025.”

The People’s Choice Award, announced at the closing ceremony, was awarded to artist Dylan Sarra, represented by Mitchell Fine Art Gallery, for his work Native Police Spears — a popular favourite among audiences for its thought-provoking, contemporary edge, critically-engaged meaning and connection to cultural identity.

Dylan Sarra is a Taribelang/Gooreng Gooreng artist from the Bundaberg region and currently lives in Meanjin (Brisbane).

A multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans printmaking, sculpture, and installation, he draws from deep cultural memory and truth-telling to challenge colonial narratives and revive stories long buried.

“My work is about connecting to ancestral voices still embedded in place. By carving and creating, I am continuing a legacy interrupted by colonisation—one that carries strength, knowledge, and survival. This is not the whole story. Instead, it is the beginning,” Mr Sarra said.

His Native Police Spears series references a colonial force established to violently expand settlement, often using Aboriginal men to police their own communities.

Tipped with hand-knapped glass, they draw from historical accounts of material improvisation by Aboriginal troopers.

“These are instruments of control and internal conflict,” writes Sarra.

“They speak to the complexity and pain of forced roles in a divided system. Their presence confronts the viewer with uncomfortable truths about complicity, coercion, and the machinery of occupation.”

CIAF Artistic Director Teho Ropeyarn said Sarra’s work embodied this year’s CIAF theme, Pay Attention!

Alick Tipoti from Badu was also awarded the Innovation Award for Mawaw Danaka, recognised by judges for its experimental approach, cultural depth and outstanding technical achievement.

Beyond the awards, Alick was a central figure in CIAF’s 2025 program, presenting work across multiple platforms and performances.

Mr Nona said national events like CIAF helped promote the region’s creative success and offered artists an opportunity to participate and further stake their claim in the Australian arts industry.

“CIAF is Queensland’s most significant and culturally immersive event. It generates substantial economic, social, and cultural benefits, offering career pathways and opportunities for thousands of Indigenous artists,” he said.

“Every year, we see a growing representation of Zenadth Kes artists participating in CIAF and exploring opportunities beyond the region, some taking the next step at venturing overseas to exhibit, perform and learn.”

TSRA’s extensive support to CIAF this year included supporting Alick Tipoti and his Dhamuw-Koedal Cultural Group under the TSRA-CIAF Memorandum of Understanding, and funding Matilda Nona under its Culture, Arts and Heritage grants program.

Gab Titui Cultural Centre staff experienced on-Country activities and attended the NorthSite Contemporary Arts x Badu Art Centre satellite exhibition opening of Malu Mabaigal (Men of the Sea), celebrating the work of artists Jymahl Savage and Tipoti Nona.

TSRA’s Culture, Arts and Heritage Program now prepares to showcase the region’s artists and cultural practitioners at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair from 7 to 10 August 2025.