11 ARTLINES 3 | 2025 10 NEWS DRAWING FESTIVAL In early May, QAGOMA’s Drawing Festival built on the success of its inaugural presentation in 2023 to deliver an even more dynamic and inclusive hands-on celebration of drawing and sketching. The 2025 edition gave visitors a creative outlet with skill- building opportunities in an environment that fostered shared experiences and wellbeing. With a relaxed, drop-in approach, simple and accessible materials, and an opportunity for visitors to see their work displayed, the festival was a smashing success and saw more than 3000 visitors create 6500 drawings. Musicians from Griffith University’s Queensland Conservatorium, drawing students from the Queensland College of Art, and community group Urban Sketchers, added to the energy of the day, which centred on an at-capacity workshop on the Watermall delivered to 500 attendees by Dr Bill Platz and Vanessa Allegra. Tony Albert and Sophia Sambono, GOMA, June 2025 / Photograph: Katie Bennett ARTWORKS IN FOCUS: HERMANNSBURG POTS At a special event in June, Future Collective members were treated to the premiere screening of ingkwia tjaiya, lyaartinya tjaiya (old way, new way), a documentary about the Hermannsburg Potters, produced by the Gallery as part of a First Nations digital project funded through the ‘Unlock the Collection’ campaign. Following the screening, guests enjoyed a conversation between contemporary artist and Future Collective member Tony Albert and Sophia Sambono, Associate Curator, Indigenous Australian Art, and a viewing of the accompanying display in GOMA’s Foyer Cabinet (pictured), which celebrates 30 years of Hermannsburg pottery in the Collection. WONDERSTRUCK FESTIVAL Held across the first weekend of the mid-year school holidays, the Wonderstruck Festival welcomed more than 11,600 visitors to over 30 free events, involving dozens of artists and performers in this joyous celebration of the opening of ‘Wonderstruck’. Following a Welcome to Country by Tribal Experiences, highlights of each day included storytelling sessions by Gordon Hookey, Kate Foster, Rachel Burke and Sharon Orapeleng; and music from Joe Tee and Afrodisa, Sharron Mirii Bell, and Zindzi and the Zillionaires. Eleven passionate teen acts, who won the opportunity to perform at the festival, also took to the stage. Hands-on workshops created by artists Brian Robinson and Pip & Pop were popular, alongside free rainbow face-painting and food trucks. In the gallery space, exhibition co-curators Tamsin Cull, Head of Public Engagement, and Laura Mudge, Senior Program Officer, Children’s Art Centre, were joined by artists Brian Robinson, Craig Koomeeta and Madeleine Kelly for a series of fun pop-up talks. The festival was designed for accessibility, with a calm room available and Auslan interpretation for Saturday’s performances on the Maiwar Green Stage to support members of the d/Deaf Community. At the Drawing Festival, visitors study Giacomo Ginotti’s nineteenth-century marble Lucretia (Gift of Mr Justice Adrian Clark and Mrs Fitzmaurice Stacke 1933), QAG, May 2025 / Photograph: Katie Bennett At the Wonderstruck Festival, GOMA, June 2025 / Photograph: Cian Sanders
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