New exhibitions launch Friday at Noosa Regional Gallery

Noosa Regional Gallery launches two exhibitions this week: From Here and There and Tales from the Eastern Highlands.

The official opening of both exhibitions is Friday, May 8, at 6pm.

From Here and There presents contemporary works by Australian South Sea Island artists including: Krishna Nahow; Jasmine Togo-Brisby; Luther Cora and Gemma Tammock, across a range of media including painting, photography, traditional cultural craft, sound and video.

It also includes material from private and public collections including the State Library of Queensland.

Australian South Sea Islanders are the Australian born descendants of people brought here from 80 Pacific Islands between 1863 and 1904 to work as a source of cheap labour for the cotton and sugar plantation industries.

Tales from the Eastern Highlands is an exhibition of work made using a hand-cut vinyl technique and is the autobiographical creation of Ulrike Sturm, who commented: “I arrived in PNG with my family when I was 14 years old.

“Suddenly I was in surroundings which are utterly different from anything I had experienced up to that point.

“The works in the exhibition are based on sketches I did from family photos during our time in PNG in the 1970s.”

Nina Shadforth, Noosa Regional Gallery Director, said: “These are very special exhibitions highlighting important cultural heritage and Australia/Pacific island relationships. They are only here for a short time and not to be missed.

“We hope to see lots of people here on Friday evening for the official opening. It is a free event with everyone welcome and a cash bar is available that will be operated by the Friends of the Gallery.”

6 May 2015