We’re about to get Australia’s first major exhibition on contemporary Indigenous fashion
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

30.06.2020

We’re about to get Australia’s first major exhibition on contemporary Indigenous fashion

Shantel Miskin wears Grace Lillian Lee’s piece ‘Body Armour: A Weave of Reflection Pink and Orange’. Image by Wade Lewis
Words by Tom Parker

Coming to Bendigo Art Gallery in September.

Piinpi is set to become the first major exhibition in Australia that solely showcases Indigenous fashion designers. Coming to Bendigo Art Gallery, a space renowned for attracting groundbreaking exhibitions, the display will welcome works from the likes of Grace Lillian Lee, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Lisa Waup and Maree Clarke.

Piinpi will also see organisations such as Hopevale Arts Culture Centre, Lore, Aarli Fashion and Maara Collective exhibited while Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Lyn-Al Young will team up to create five special pieces for the exhibition.

The display has been curated by Bendigo Art Gallery First Nations curator and Southern Kaantju woman Shonae Hobson, who’s quickly solidifying a reputation within Australia’s creative landscape, earning plaudits for her dedication and support for First Nations art practitioners. Hobson moved from her home in Coen, Cape York in 2018 to become Bendigo Art Gallery’s first-ever First Nations curator. She was 21 at the time.

The name of the exhibition, Piinpi, is a term commonly used across regions of Kanichi Thampanyu (East Cape York) referring to natural seasonal shifts that occur across time, accommodating the regeneration of Country.

Piinpi will be open at Bendigo Art Gallery from Saturday September 5 to Sunday November 29. Grab a ticket to the exhibit here.

Never miss a story. Sign up to Beat’s newsletter and you’ll be served fresh music, arts, food and culture stories five times a week.