Discover Ipswich Visitor Guide 2025

Indigenous artists in the spotlight

Crossing the Divide will be on stage at Ipswich Civic Centre 4 June

with responses from contemporary artists including Rubyrose Bancroft, a Bundjalung woman from Northern New South Wales. The Tamworth Textile Triennial will be on show from 4 October to 30 November and showcases the best textile art from across the country. Including artists Kyra Mancktelow, a Quandamooka artist with links to the Mardigan people of Cunnamulla; Daphne Banyawarra a Ganalbingu woman from Gurrwiliny (Arafura Wetlands), Wadawurrung woman Kait James; Sophie Honess (Gamilaroi Yinarr) and Norton Fredericks (born in Ipswich/Tulmur, Murri heritage). In Ipswich Civic Centre, look out for Crossing the Divide , Proudfoot & Friends and Waltzing the Willarra . Crossing the Divide will be on stage 4 June, this performance is a conversation starter, it focuses on Liam, a scholarship student from the Torres Strait who is on a high school history excursion – a two-day trek across the Great Dividing Range.

Proudfoot & Friends will be live on 13 July as part of NAIDOC Week, SPARK Ipswich and the 50 th Anniversary of the Ipswich Civic Centre. The award-winning First Nations performer Lucas Proudfoot captivates young audiences (3–7 year olds) in a 45-minute interactive comedy-musical featuring unique digital puppeteering and choreographed animated projections. On 8 October Waltzing the Wilarra , written and composed by David Milroy, will take you on a musical journey back to 1940s post-war Perth. Against a backdrop of curfews, and the fear of arrest for consorting, white and black manage to form their own club. For a night they can forget their worries and experience rare happy times singing, dancing, listening to music, and with a little luck... romance.

Local artist Charmaine Davis and her daughter Chenaya Bancroft-Davis will showcase their art in a new exhibition at the Ipswich Art Gallery this year. They are Goori women, descended from the Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung Nations and now live in Ipswich. Charmaine said the exhibition titled Jugun – Sense of Place was about their connection to Ipswich and home – her ancestral lands in New South Wales. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s fantastic doing art with my girls.” Charmaine has previously had her art showcased in the gallery and also during SPARK Ipswich as giant projections. Jugun – Sense of Place will be held at Ipswich Art Gallery in June and July in time for NAIDOC week. At the same time another exhibition with local artists Ailsa Walsh (Lardil, Kullilli and Yuggera) and Krystal Hurst (Worimi/Warrimay with Biripi ties), will be in the Ipswich Community Gallery. These exhibitions are two of several highlighting Indigenous art in 2025. The Ipswich Art Gallery and Ipswich Civic Centre are continuing to showcase First Nations content, celebrating amazing talents from both Ipswich/Tulmur and throughout the country across a range of programming and exhibitions. The Ipswich Art Gallery will also host touring exhibition Fantastic Forms from 14 June to 14 September. This will feature artworks from Bundanon Art Museum’s Collection,

Charmaine Davis' art will be displayed at Ipswich Art Gallery in June and July

Charmaine Davis and her daughter Chenaya Bancroft-Davis

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