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The Queensland Government continues to support First Nation arts and cultural projects with an investment of more than $1.3 million through the First Nations Commissioning Fund.

This latest funding will support new work by celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and companies and five industry placements.

The First Nations Commissioning Fund is supporting opportunities to share stories and cultural knowledge, and elevates the art works, experiences, music, dance, theatre and visual arts of First Nations artists and organisations in Queensland.

The five industry placements aim to grow skills in curation, event management, marketing, production and presentation, and five projects have been supported to commission new music by local First Nations composers and musicians.

Adam James, in collaboration with Redlands Performing Arts Centre will develop a concert of new jazz arrangements with The Great First Nations Songbook.

James shared “this project will bring together the best of black Australian music and present it to new audiences.  It will also see me mentor emerging First Nations singer-songwriters, which will help nurture the critical talent pipeline.

“We will create a full concert-length performance that will weave together popular and well-known works by some of Australia’s most iconic First Nations musicians.

“The proposed show is both a hark back to familiar tunes audiences will know and love, a revival of the old jazz crooners who defined mid-20th century popular music performed through the lens of First Nations’ experience.

‘We are proud to present First Nations music that reimagines song lines where old becomes new and new becomes old.”

Gold Coast based Proudfoot and Friends will deliver a new music-based stage show for young children with successful funding recipient Lucas Proudfoot advising “this project is the first step in creating a permanent footprint within the Australian Children’s entertainment landscape. The stage show is set to premiere in the September school holidays and we cannot wait to share Proudfoot and Friends with young audiences across Queensland.

“Proudfoot and Friends is a highly innovative multi-platform project and live show for kids aged three to seven.  Over the past 18 months, we’ve been developing the story-world creation, character design, rehearsing the stage show and writing and recording the music that will accompany the project.

“Music, story and culture are about sharing and connecting -- Proudfoot and Friends aim to deliver this in every way possible.”

Munjmba-ja on the Sunshine Coast is being supported to present Our Stories, Our Voices, Our People providing career opportunities through exhibitions, residencies, business development and masterclasses, and twenty-five First Nations storytellers, led by theatre practitioner Alethea Beetson, will be employed in Blak Social’s ambitious new work Meet Your Maker.

Funding is also supporting artist Carol McGregor to facilitate a cultural leadership, mentoring and exhibition program celebrating the First Nations artistic community that grew from the Contemporary Australian Indigenous Arts program at the Queensland College of Art.

QLD Minister for the Arts, Leeanne Enoch noted “Funding is supporting the development and showcasing of new arts and cultural work of the talented First Nations arts practitioners in Queensland, celebrating their unique stories and strengthening the role of arts and culture in truth telling and healing processes.

“Support for industry placements is working to expand the scale and capacity of the state’s creative workforce and boosting employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and arts workers as we look towards the opportunities for First Nations arts leading in to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Background information:

-The First Nations Commissioning Fund supports the Queensland Government’s Creative Together 2020–2030: A 10-Year Roadmap for Arts, Culture and Creativity in Queensland and its key priorities.

-Applicants can apply for:

• Single-year (up to $70,000) or two-year funding (up to $150,000) for projects
• An additional $60,000 towards a First Nations full-time industry placement for 12-months, with potential for a further $30,000 for two-year projects.
• An additional $10,000 towards commissioning new music by Queensland-based First Nations composers, musicians or librettists as part of a project.

To view the list of recipients for round 2 of the First National Commissioning Fund go to www.arts.qld.gov.au/aq-funding/aq-first-nations-commissioning-fund

Image: Lucas Proudfoot Credit: Arts Queensland

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