Pop Up North Queensland (PUNQ), North Queensland’s place-based contemporary arts festival, is back in 2024 offering a slate of local, national and international artists adding extra life to the region’s spaces, histories and futures.
Pop in to ‘Pop Up North Queensland’
The biennial festival, from 1st to 18th August 2024, offers unique immersive journeys across four districts. Residents and visitors to Gurambilbarra / Townsville, Yunbenun / Magnetic Island, Warrgamay, Nywaigi & Bandjin Country / Hinchinbrook and Gudjal Country /Charters Towers will enjoy a programme of dynamic works, live events and innovative performances. Join the fun to celebrate the region’s distinct landscapes, inspire cultural exchange, reimagine expectations and transform your perceptions.
At the same time, visitors will have the opportunity to experience North Queensland’s stunning landscapes, vibrant cultures and compelling stories through contemporary arts.
…. PUNQ 2024 will invite people to connect with this remarkable region through thought provoking works that reflect and help define our state’s cultural identity.Minister for the Arts, Leeanne Enoch
She added that the Queensland Government is proud to support PUNQ 2024, which helps deliver their Creative Together strategy, with priorities to activate Queensland places and spaces, elevate First Nations arts, share stories and celebrate the storytellers.
What’s on offer?
PUNQ’s program is dedicated to amplifying the Indigenous voices of North Queensland. Manbarra Traditional Owner and community leader Vicki Saylor and multi-award winning photographer and videographer Pippa Samaya have joined forces to illuminate First Nations stories through their powerful billboard exhibition, Waymaker, one of which you can see at the top of our story.
These billboards, sited along regional highways, display portraits of Indigenous Elders and their stories to expand the nation’s narratives.
Other Artists
- Gail Mabo, an internationally recognised Meriam artist draws attention to the history of South Sea Islander indentured labour in North Queensland.
- International interdisciplinary artist Anida Yoeu Ali (Cambodia/USA) returns to debut The Red Chador: Stranded, a Studio Revolt film shot in 2021.
- Elysha Rei, a Japanese Australian artist based in Meanjin / Brisbane, explores narratives of cultural identity through a site-specific paper-cutting installation called Kiri-edo.
PUNQ is proud to present the immersive sonic journey, Still, by Canadian composer Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Black Ox Orkestar) and Coiling, a newly commissioned performance work by Jennifer Ma and Baylee Griffith, composed by Isadoré and supported by leading contemporary dance company Dancenorth Australia.
PUNQ partners with Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) to commission Shapes of Listening, a contemporary video, sound and architectural installation by Naarm/Melbourne-based artists Sonja Leber and David Chesworth.
The work is created through Umbrella’s Creative Research Residency program, a partnership between James Cook University’s Special Collections at the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and The Studio, onsite at Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts.
Art Fair:A Constructed World
This art fair is a vibrant, free and interactive space within a historical building in the centre of Gurambilbarra / Townsville and will be open to the public on 3rd and 4th August.
PUNQ 2024 runs from 1 – 18 August at various locations around North Queensland. View the full program and Art Trail map at their website.
The event will be launched on 1st August 2024 with Gundil Released by the Big Eye Theatre and Wulgurukaba Walkabouts.
Events are Free and open to the public although some events are ticketed. Check out all the details from the producers of PUNQ, on Umbrella Studio’s Instagram, Facebook and YouTube channels.
images©belong to artists
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